Community Resources – Habitat for Humanity
Various community resources exist to improve the quality of life in the community, promote health and safety, and protect community health populations during a crisis. Different health populations have different health problems. Most community organizations focus on helping various vulnerable health populations. Vulnerable populations include the physically impaired, abuse victims of violence, immigrants, disadvantaged races, refugees, youths, and pregnant mothers.
The organizations developed to promote these populations’ health and safety in the community can be governmental, non-profit, local, or global. Nurses can participate in these organizations as either volunteer or act as a referral. This essay evaluates Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit housing organization, and how it promotes public health and safety.
Habitat for Humanity’s Vision and Mission and its Contribution to Public Health and Safety
The selected community resource is Habitat for Humanity. It is a global non-profit organization that works to empower people from poor communities to overcome the lack of decent housing. Its vision is “A world where everyone has a decent place to live.” The organization’s mission is “To bring communities together to help families build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter” (Habitat for humanity.org, n.d.).
The organization aims to achieve its mission and vision by finding solutions to make adequate housing affordable and accessible. Appropriate housing is associated with the social determinants of health. Most health populations that live in socioeconomically deprived environments lack appropriate housing.
In such populations, communicable and non-communicable disease prevalence is relatively high due to poor sanitation and hygiene, often associated with poor housing. Habitat for Humanity organization contributes to public health by ensuring people from poor communities can access or afford decent housing, thus preventing health problems caused by poor sanitation and hygiene.
According to healthy people 2030 (n.d.), people’s housing and homes significantly contribute to their health and wellbeing. One of the goals of healthy people 2030 is to reduce health and safety risks in homes. Through its mission and vision, Habitat for Humanity organization is at the frontline of ensuring this goal is met.
It embarks on individual strategies to ensure people stay in safe homes and houses by empowering them to build houses free of safety risks. Some safety risks that may cause serious health problems include second-hand smoke, using lead paints, inaccessibility of the house by the physically impaired, and mental health issues such as stress and depression due to struggling to afford a house (Swope and Hernandez, 2019).
Healthy People 2030 is an initiative that supports the organizational mission and vision of habitat for humanity. Its objectives under housing instability support the institution’s mission of achieving better housing facilities for poor communities and reducing the number of homeless individuals (Healthy People 2030.gov, n.d.).
Habitat for Humanity in Promoting Equal Opportunity and Improving the Quality of Life in the Community
Habitat for Humanity organization has been one of the best organizations in the community in ensuring they give equal opportunity to all people from poor communities. By striving to empower people from poor communities to access and afford quality housing, they place them at better chances in life, thus giving the haves and the have-nots equal opportunity, especially when it comes to the prevention of health issues related to poor housing.
Furthermore, the organization not only builds, repairs, and renovates homes, but it also ensures that housing buildings are more energy efficient, provides water and sanitation solutions, and mitigates the effects of disasters (Habitat for Humanity.org, n.d.).
These are significant factors that contribute to the community’s quality of life. More so, they are among the sustainable development goals. Housing with more efficient energy helps the communities to save energy and conserve the environment.
Appropriate water and sanitation solutions ensure the community is safe and helps prevent non-communicable diseases such as cholera and typhoid, which can be a menace in the community. The ability to mitigate the effects of disasters in the community promotes safety. Therefore, the organization improves the quality of life for the disadvantaged in the community.
There are various physical, social, cultural, and economic barriers to the realization of housing in poor communities. According to Adabre, Chan & Darko (2022), the interactive effects of economic, cultural, social, and environmental barriers lead to the unsustainability of housing projects. Similarly, for the habitat for humanity organization, these barriers may prevent them from reaching their goal in poor communities. Another significant barrier is institutional and policy barriers. The organization works according to the existing policies. Thus policy barriers may limit its work.
Impact of Funding Sources, Policy, and Legislations on the Organization’s Provision of Services
Various aspects such as funding, policies, and legislation may have different potential implications on the service provision of the organization to the community. Sources of funding are one of them. The sources of funding for the organization include online donations, philanthropy partners, church partnerships, and corporate and foundation partnerships (Habitat for humanity.org, n.d.). Funding from donations and partnerships may be inadequate, thus limiting the organization’s service provision. Therefore, sound financial management is vital for the organization.
Policies and legislations of the country of operation may also restrict the organization from providing services to the community. The federal government implemented legislation such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to ensure that housing services are made affordable for all (O’Regan, 2019).
The legislation supports the organization’s work, thus ensuring individuals and families access affordable housing. The organization influences how policies and legislations are assessed, prioritized, and funded by the local, national and international governments (Habitat for humanity.org, n.d.).
Habitat for Humanity Work’s Impact on the Health and Safety Needs of a Local Community
As mentioned earlier, the habitat for humanity organization’s work is diverse. Its work includes housing, microfinance, energy efficiency, advocacy, disaster response, water, hygiene, and sanitation (Habitat for humanity.org, n.d.). The determinants of health for individuals revolve around the community’s environment, social, physical, and economic factors. Housing and energy efficiency are some of the social factors.
The organization ensures that a community’s health and safety needs are met through decent housing. They also impact the health and safety of a community by ensuring access to water, and proper sanitation, thus helping prevent health problems caused by poor hygiene and sanitation. Disaster response activities also ensure a community’s health and safety needs are met, especially during a disaster.
Nurses can be involved in the organization’s work in several ways. To begin with, they can volunteer to work with the organization in disaster response. Nurses are well trained and equipped with skills and knowledge to assist in disaster preparedness and response (Said and Chiang, 2020).
Health problems are associated with disasters, such as mental illnesses. Nurses can help assess the health problems and develop interventions to address them. Nurses can also be involved by carrying out health promotion in the poor community identified by the organization, thus improving the health and well-being of the community.
Conclusion
Community resources such as habitat for humanity play a significant role in improving the quality of life and ensuring the health and safety of poor communities. They provide equal opportunities for the disadvantaged members of the community. Various policies and legislations may affect their work. However, they should work together and advocate for favorable policies. As discussed above, nurses can play a vital role in community organizations by assisting in disaster response and health promotion.
References
Swope, C. B., & Hernández, D. (2019). Housing as a determinant of health equity: A conceptual model. Social Science & Medicine, 243, 112571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112571
Adabre, M. A., Chan, A. P., & Darko, A. (2022). Interactive effects of institutional, economic, social and environmental barriers on sustainable housing in a developing country. Building and Environment, 207, 108487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108487
O’Regan, K. M. (2019). The fair housing act today: Current context and challenges at 50. Housing Policy Debate, 29(5), 704-713. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511482.2018.1519907
Said, N. B., & Chiang, V. C. (2020). The knowledge, skill competencies, and psychological preparedness of nurses for disasters: a systematic review. International emergency nursing, 48, 100806. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ienj.2019.100806
Habitat for Humanity Organization. (n.d.). Retrieved on August 24, 2022 from https://www.habitat.org/emea/about
Healthy People 2030.gov (n.d.). Retrieved on August 24, 2022. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/housing-and-homes