The U.S. is suffering from a historic housing crisis. Over the past decades, interest rates and housing prices have been rising faster than incomes across America, leading to intense stress and financial strain for millions. From 2019 to 2025, prices increased 60% nationwide, creating significant barriers to home ownership, particularly for first-time buyers who now face higher mortgage rates and limited inventory. According to a report published by the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025,” the record-high number of cost-burdened homeowners represent 24% of home-owning households. Meanwhile, in 2024, the number of rental households grew by nearly 848,000, with this trend highlighting the growing number of individuals and families who are unable to buy homes, making renting a more viable option. More troubling, 12.1 million renters pay over half their earnings just to keep a roof over their heads. With the surge of costs and homelessness, the dream of safe shelter is falling out of reach for people across the country, marking access to housing one of the most urgent and relevant challenges of our era. 

Maggie Walker’s Habitat for Humanity is a campus chapter and first-year club currently on probation, operating in partnership with the Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity. The chapter is  co-sponsored by Mr. Clark and Mr. Ruskan. The club focuses on fulfilling Habitat for Humanity’s mission, which is to make efforts to address the heightening issues and “bring people together to build homes, communities, and hope.” Founded in 1976, Habitat for Humanity is one of the largest  global nonprofit organizations that collaborates with donors, volunteers, and communities. Campus chapters allow students to engage in advocacy, fundraising, donation drives, and hands-on building projects for service hours. This chapter opens up leadership role opportunities and promotes teamwork and social responsibility. 

Habitat is dedicated to raising awareness through unique service activities. Volunteering is a core pillar of the club, and members are able to organize and participate in local Habitat build sites and Restores by painting, landscaping, and building. Members can earn service hours both in and outside of school through hosting fundraising events in concessions, engaging in gratitude campaigns by making cards for volunteers, and completing Habitat at Home projects. Habitat at Home opportunities consist of making volunteer snack bags, constructing picnic tables, and creating stepping stones, which are directly donated to local Habitats. Additionally, students can make a positive impact by contributing to tool and food drives. 

Advocacy and outreach are other fundamental parts of the mission, and students interested in policy, public health, and other aspects tied to housing can lead educational, research-based campaigns to increase awareness within the community. Notably, the club looks forward to expanding member participation in Habitat Voices in Action, Habitat’s national advocacy campaign that empowers individuals to take action for housing justice. Through this initiative, participants can connect with policymakers, write letters to local representatives, and speak out in support of affordable housing initiatives. 

In the future, the club hopes to deepen its impact by gaining stronger community partnerships, opening new advocacy and volunteer opportunities for students, and pursuing research focused on house-related issues. Interested students should follow @mlwgs.habitatforhumanity on Instagram for updates since the club is on probation and there are no official Schoology announcements yet. Look out for future meetings and join the Habitat for Humanity club to give back to the community! 

Information retrieved from National Association of Home Builders, Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, Habitat for Humanity