Improving Lives, One Home at a Time.
Our vision is to bring lasting change to the lives of impoverished families where possible in Cameroon by providing them with a place to call home. By doing so, we aim to break the cycle of perpetual poverty in such families and impact their general livelihoods, wellbeing, and the level of education of their kids, which will go on to change the wider community.
We are modeling a system founded by Millard Fuller here, whereby families selected will participate towards the construction of their homes and make affordable monthly payments until they take full ownership. Surplus funds are then reinvested toward a sustainable model which helps house new families year after year.
After the pilot project of 10 homes, we aim to build 25 homes in 2022 and 100 homes/year thereafter, which will have a direct impact on 500 lives per year, and measurably more, as this impact ripples greatly into the wider community.
We are currently raising funds for our pilot project which entails the construction of 10 homes of two bedrooms and one bathroom to house a basic family unit. Built sustainably from compressed earth bricks, these homes will be naturally cooler when it is hot and warmer in the cooler months.
Families are selected by an evaluation board consisting of community leaders from the same community. The main determining factors for selection include:
- The existence of kids and a family unit
- The ability to consistently earn an income of at least $200/m
The goal is to help the families that show the most potential to benefit from the security and stability of owning a home.
Our selection criteria will continue to evolve and be refined as we progress and learn from the pilot project.
Details of all funds collected online and otherwise will be made available on request. Funds donated on the website are collected in the United States and will be sent directly to the foundation’s bank account in Cameroon. All disbursements and accounting records will also be available on request
Yes, our pilot project is 100% philanthropic and dependent on donors. The families selected will own their homes after a period of 5-8 years upon making minimal monthly payments. This is to instill a sense of responsibility and ownership. These amounts will then be used to build the next set of homes.
Our current project is dependent on donations as will be the next one that is seeded by this project. These projects are only sustainable as far as we can secure donations, which we will pursue enthusiastically.
However, in order to achieve scale and develop and provide affordable housing on a sustainable basis, our future projects will be developed and provided on a for-profit basis under a sustainable financing structure, offering modest returns to the investors, with any surplus profits reinvested intensely to building homes year on year.
Our test home is now complete. This has helped determine the actual cost of one unit vs. plan. We have also finished all foundations for the first 10 homes and molded and stocked all the 40,000 compressed earth blocks necessary to complete them.
During October, we will be reviewing applications of families and doing final selections.
As soon as the rainy season is over (End October/early November) we will commence with building the other nine homes simultaneously to benefit from economies of scale. The selected families will get to participate in the construction work at this stage.
All 10 homes should be 100% complete and ready for occupancy by the end of 2021.
This project will be delivered in the large part by the Starline Construction team, who have experience building affordable homes. The potential homeowners will also be made to participate physically in the construction of their homes, to install a sense of pride and ownership.
We intend to build enough momentum to start with 25 houses in January next year and work our way up to 100 units per year thereafter.
Our budget is $100,000 and we have raised an amazing $20,505 to date which represents 20% of the total project cost.
Kindly use the contact form to ask any questions or raise any concerns and we will respond to your query as soon as possible.