Greater Plainfield Habitat for Humanity

Please read the following items to see if you have an interest in our ministry AND to see if you meet our general guidelines:

1. To qualify you must have housing need. For example: no indoor plumbing, poor heating, leaks in the roof, overcrowding (three to a bedroom), unsafe or unsanitary conditions.
2. You need to have lived in our service area for a year (Plainfield, North Plainfield, South Plainfield, Scotch Plains, Fanwood, Dunellen, Piscataway, Westfield, or Green Brook).
3. You need to have a minimum steady, total household income of $45,000 per year.
4. With your permission, we will verify employment and other income, verify checking and savings account balances, get a statement from your current and previous landlords, have a credit check done, and ask you for credit references.
5. If you are approved for a Habitat home, we ask that you be willing to join in educational programs to learn and practice budgeting, home repair, and maintenance. We ask that you attend the periodic Habitat for Humanity homeowners’ meetings.
6. If approved for a Habitat home, we require that all adults (18 years and older) in your household be willing to work 200 hours of sweat equity, with a maximum of 400 hours per household. The sweat equity must be completed before you’re permitted to move into your home.
7. If approved for a Habitat home, about $3,500 will be needed for closing costs. You will have some time to save this money before closing if your family is selected.
8. If you are approved for a home and if you meet the sweat-equity and financial requirements, then we will sell you a home at cost with no profit. Habitat house payments include taxes and insurance and will cost approximately $1,200 a month (*only an estimate). The house payments are used by Plainfield Habitat to build more houses with other families. This requires that you make these payments on time.

The Selection Process:

Interested families are invited to an Applicants orientation meeting, followed by a series of interviews by the Family Selection Committee.  This committee is comprised of volunteers who review the applications and work with applicants to assemble all information needed.  A credit check is done and requests made for references, income tax forms, pay stubs and other documentation.  If the family selection committee feels that the applicant is ready and qualified to become a Habitat homeowner, the application is then submitted to the Board of Directors for approval.  This process may take up to six months to complete.

Equal Opportunity Housing:

The Greater Plainfield Habitat For Humanity is pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation.  We encourage and support an affirmative advertising and marketing program in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.

If you are interested in Plainfield Habitat and if you believe you qualify for a home according to the above guidelines, we encourage you to fill out and submit the short form below. All information is considered confidential and is to be used only for family selection.

Or download our full application today!