It takes 174,000 nails on average to build the dream of safe, affordable homeownership? Yes, you read that right! If you ever find yourself volunteering on our build sites, you’ll hear the echoing of nails being hammered into place.

The trick to not getting overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of such a huge undertaking is to concentrate on that one nail in front of you. Then the next. Then the one after that. Before you know it, you and everyone else who’s been working alongside you have hammered enough nails into boards to build a house that will become home to a deserving family in our own community.

Nail by nail, board by board, Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis has built more than 400 homes throughout Saint Louis City and County, which have provided a home purchasing opportunity for people who often don’t qualify for traditional financing. Through our program – and their own sweat equity and determination – people working in low-paying fields can achieve the dream of homeownership.

Nails cost about 5 cents each. Every house we build will have about $880 worth of nails. We are planning to build 16 homes this year, which brings our cost in nails up to just a little more than $14,000.Your gift today – combined with the contributions of others who share our vision – can help Habitat buy $14,000 worth of nails as well as other goods needed to fulfill our mission.

Every nail, brick, and board in a Habitat home builds a brighter future for low-income, hardworking families who just need a hand up to greater economic mobility. Whether you are able to share enough to buy one box of nails or a whole house worth, every contribution – just like every nail – builds the dream of homeownership for people in our own community who simply want a decent, affordable, safe place for their families to live.

Your investment in Habitat for Humanity Saint Louis makes you as much a part of each home we build as the bricks and sticks – and nails. Thank you for sharing our belief that everyone in St. Louis – regardless of income – deserves a safe, affordable place to live.