MADISON, Wis.–The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded World Council the Home Ownership and Mortgage Expansion (HOME) Program to catalyze the housing finance sector to create access to affordable housing for average Haitian households.
Earthquake damage in Haiti.
USAID/Haiti and World Council, with its partners Habitat for Humanity International and the Affordable Housing Institute, have developed a program to work directly with Haitian financial institutions and housing developers to support initiatives that will create and strengthen affordable housing financial products and services in Haiti, WOCCU said. “The end goal is to make this a Haitian-led and owned initiative,” according to the organization.
Since 2009, World Council has helped Haitian financial institutions expand access to agricultural and rural finance through its flagship USAID-funded HIFIVE program. With the new HOME Program, World Council said it and its partners will focus on improving the housing finance market.
“Access to affordable, safe and durable housing is critical to saving lives in Haiti,” WOCCU said. “Situated between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates and directly on the region's hurricane track, the country must continually weather storms, floods and earthquakes.
“Following the 2010 earthquake, the U.S. Government, in close collaboration with the Government of Haiti, developed a housing strategy to build short-term shelters and longer-term greenfield homes,” WOCCU continued. “Based on successes and lessons learned from this approach, USAID/Haiti now looks at the entire housing value chain to find a sustainable solution to the affordable housing shortage in Haiti.”
HOME will be led by Mr. Duane Kissick, a well-known affordable housing expert with extensive experience in affordable housing, urban development and housing finance. For the last five years, he has worked with Government of Haiti counterparts, Haitian construction companies, developers and financial institutions, according to WOCCU.