Advocacy means supporting and promoting a cause you believe in.
At Alabama Habitat for Humanity, we advocate to change policies and systems to eliminate barriers to adequate and affordable housing.
Building is part of the solution. But that’s not enough. In addition to lifting our hammers, we have the ability – and, now more than ever, the responsibility – to promote sustainable and inclusive policy solutions, ensuring everyone has access to adequate and affordable housing.
Alabama
In Alabama, Habitat works collectively to influence and change policies and systems at all levels of government to ensure that more families can find affordable, quality homes across the U.S.
Each year, the Alabama Association of Habitat Affiliates gathers in Montgomery for an annual State Advocacy Day to discuss the urgent needs for affordable housing and the beneficial impact of state partnerships with legislators and government officials.
"Habitat’s work is about more than housing - it’s about stability, opportunity, and strengthening communities. I appreciate their commitment and advocacy, and I look forward to continuing to support efforts that ensure safe, affordable housing remains a priority in Alabama." - Alabama State Representative Parker Moore, District 4 (Limestone, Madison, and Morgan Counties)
In 2019, we joined a national five-year advocacy campaign to mobilize local and state Habitat organizations, partners, volunteers and community members across the country. During our U.S. Cost of Home campaign, we found solutions and helped implement policies that allowed 9.5+ million individuals to gain improved access to stable, affordable homes. Within just five years, over 400 state and local Habitat organizations successfully advocated for 460+ home affordability policies in states and communities nationwide.
With hundreds of policy successes, we know how to impact affordable housing at the local, state and federal levels. Join us through Habitat Voices in Action as we continue to work together for affordable homeownership.
Federal Policy Agenda
Each year, Alabama Habitat for Humanity participates in Habitat for Humanity's annual federal advocacy event. Habitat on the Hill is a 3 day legislative conference for Habitat staff members, board members, homeowners, resident leaders, volunteers, emerging leaders and supporters to engage with each other and with experts in the housing field to plan and advocate for local, state and federal policy solutions that advance home affordability. The event culminates with a day of direct meetings with Alabama's elected officials and legislative staff in Washington, D.C.
Habitat on the Hill 2026 // Habitat on the Hill 2025
Habitat’s Federal Policy Agenda for the 119th Congress highlights key federal policy priorities and federal resources and programs that are critical to Habitat’s ability to expand homeownership opportunities for low- and moderate-income families in the U.S. and globally. It also highlights priorities for supporting nonprofit organizations.
Advocacy Principles
Here you will find the twelve principles that guide Alabama Habitat for Humanity’s advocacy work – which are aligned with Habitat's vision and our three core values: humility, courage, and accountability.
In Memoriam
President Jimmy Carter
Habitat for Humanity joins the world in mourning the death of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. A champion for affordable and decent housing, he and Rosalynn Carter donated their time and leadership each year to build and improve homes with Habitat around the world. President Carter died peacefully Sunday, December 29, 2024, at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family.
After leaving the White House, the Carters sought out meaningful ways to continue their commitment to social justice and basic human rights. They first volunteered with Habitat for Humanity in Americus, Georgia, near their home of Plains, in March 1984. Later that same year, the Carters joined Habitat volunteers in New York City’s Lower East Side to renovate an abandoned building in partnership with families in need of affordable housing. That trip marked Habitat for Humanity’s first Jimmy Carter Work Project (later renamed the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project). Each year since then until 2019, the Carters volunteered with Habitat to build or improve houses alongside homeowners in communities across the United States and around the world. President Carter also served as a member of the organization’s board of directors from 1984-1987.
“I think every human being has within himself or herself a desire to reach out to others and to share some of our blessings with those who are in need,” President Carter has said. “What’s opened up that avenue for me and my wife and hundreds and thousands of others is Habitat for Humanity. It makes it easy for us to reach out and work side by side with the homeowner who’s never had a decent house, perhaps. I haven’t been on a Habitat project that I wasn’t thrilled and inspired and wept.”
First Lady Rosalynn Carter
For more than three decades, Rosalynn Carter and her husband President Jimmy Carter donated their time and voices to help Habitat build with more families around the world. “I really can’t make speeches of Habitat because I get so choked up. I look and see the homeowners, and I see all the wonderful volunteers who are just working to do something good for somebody who needs help,” she once said. “They’re there just for the purpose — almost without exception — of just doing something good for somebody who is less fortunate. And so it’s being able to help people, but it’s also being in a place where everybody wants to do something good.” Her impact was unmistakable. “Over the years, she blessed us with her compassion for serving others and commitment to improving housing conditions around the world,” says Habitat CEO Jonathan Reckford. “Mrs. Carter helped change the lives of thousands of homeowners, empowered countless women and inspired millions of people.”
