135,000 Dominicans have improved their homes with Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic

• After 34 years in the country, the housing-focused NGO has worked on more than 27,000 housing solutions on Dominican soil.

 

Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic arrived in the country in 1986, and since then the global non-profit, non-governmental organisation has transformed and empowered the lives of more than 135,000 Dominicans by building and improving their homes.

Cesarina Fabián, director of Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic, explains that their greatest cause for celebration is seeing thousands of Dominican families in safe and healthy homes. “We are very grateful because in these 34 years in the country we have worked on more than 27,000 housing solutions. This is thanks to the work of an extraordinary team committed to the organisation, as well as all the Dominicans who have got involved in our cause in different ways, as individual or corporate donors and volunteers,” says Fabián.

Over 34 years in the country, the organisation has improved the living conditions of thousands of families without access to a decent place to live. It achieves this through several programmes, including building new homes, financial education, disaster risk response and reduction activities, construction capacity building for families and builders, promoting access to microfinance products for home repairs and improvements for low-income families with technical construction assistance, and the help of volunteers.

Hábitat Dominicana’s projects have been carried out in Santo Domingo, Herrera, Los Alcarrizos, Sabana Perdida, Villa Mella, Villa Altagracia, Haina, Azua, Elías Piña, Montecristi, Samaná, San Cristóbal, San Juan, San Francisco de Macorís and Santiago de los Caballeros.

To transform the lives of thousands of families, the organisation mobilises local and international volunteers who have joined to build shoulder to shoulder in the communities where it works. Companies such as Whirlpool in the Dominican Republic and Cementos Argos Dominicana have supported Habitat’s cause, as has businessman Celso Marranzini, who has been committed to the organisation’s work for several years and with whom a project was developed for residents of Haina and surrounding areas.

“The structural weakness of homes built empirically by their owners, the need to strengthen preparedness for and response to hurricane-related risks, shelters and housing, and the need for advocacy through volunteer voices championing the cause of decent housing, as well as laws seeking to improve the situation from central government, remain the biggest challenges we face at Hábitat Dominicana,” stresses Fabián.

Habitat for Humanity is present in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean and has partnerships throughout the region. The leading housing organisation is present in more than 70 countries around the world. In the Dominican Republic, the team of professionals supporting director Cesarina Fabián includes Gina Vera, Resource Development and Communications Manager; Juan Mendoza, Finance and Administration Manager; and Betsaida Santana, Programmes Manager.

“Today our work is focused on our ‘Housing, communities + hope’ campaign, created in response to the pandemic we are experiencing, with the goal of achieving a world where everyone has a healthy place to live and contain the transmission of COVID-19, and where no one is forced to leave their home because of the economic hardship caused by the pandemic. We will keep working hard as an organisation to empower more Dominicans through housing,” concludes Fabián.

 

For more information, visit habitatdominicana.org or follow @habitatdominicana on social media.

Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic

Habitat for Humanity is a global non-profit, non-governmental organisation working to ensure everyone has a decent place to live, through programmes focused on housing microfinance, minimising risk and increasing disaster response.

Habitat for Humanity Dominican Republic empowers families to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter. Since it began its work in 1986, the organisation has delivered more than 27,000 housing solutions and impacted around 135,000 people. we empower through housing.