I very much admire the fact that this charity, in addition to its other merciful work, offers microloans to US fledgling businesses, such as the one described in this article: http://www.newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=acupuncturist+gets+start+with+mercy+corps%27+help--1324229737--2268-- America would be so much the better if these small loans were expanded to include small businesses in all the 50 states and NOT just those local to the corporate office in Oregon. Right now so many small businesses in America are foundering. SO MANY right here in OUR country are losing the battle for survival. Without question,the plight of so many worldwide is tragic, I DO believe, however, given the current economic status of small business owners here in the US, in the case of MICRO-BUSINESS LOANS, that charity should also be given at home - all across America. I think of my niece and her husband and their two small children, the younger of which is autistic and the elder still struggling with physical disabilities resultant from a premature birth They have worked so long and hard for 6 years to establish themselves and now struggle desperately to stay afloat ,feed clothe and provide medical care for their family, as they eke out a living and use every ounce of creativity to seek new alternative sources of revenue as they wait for the core industry for their business - the stagnant construction industry-- to rebound. These young people did so much to help the community in ay way they could in donations, community contributions and so forth during their busiest years. Now they struggle day to day with no help for the weary. I hope this agency will think on these things.

I guess it's just me being cynical, but after looking at Habitat's financials---or maybe I'm just reading it wrong. But for a charity to be sitting on $201,579,376 in assets and doing nothing with it in the face of the housing crisis is...obscene.

IS there something in the bylaws that PREVENTS your charity from stepping in, developing a program, to lend a hand to some EXISTING homeowners who are in crisis because the mortgage lending industry is taking full advantage of the low fed lending rates AND the depressed real estate market to DENY approving mortgages?

And here's another thing that keeps me from shopping in the Habitat stores.

At one time, long before the "net assets" topped $200 million, I suppose, the donations to Habitat's stores were also giving a helping hand to those whose budgets were under strain already by keeping prices on the donated material within the budget of the lower income segment.
Not so anymore.
The donated items are comp-priced by using the internet at the stores here in Charlotte, NC, and probably across the country? I don't actually know for sure, but I can't see one "district" operating outside the corporate line.
And I just realized I said CORPORATE...it just flowed into my head automatically. Uncomfortable, that.
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The prices in the Habitat for Humanity stores here in Charlotte, NC now are above what low-income families can afford, but are "bargain priced" for the upper middle-class. Their practice of pricing via internet listings have changed the demographic of the store, and eliminated a resource for lower income families.

All things considered, Habitat for Humanity seems to have morphed into a "charity corporation" resembling those "religious corporations" that also sit on their assets like King Midas of old.

Why would a charity need to sit on $200,000,000?
How can a charity justify sitting on $200,000,000?
Any CHARITY?