Shelter

Rebuilding Homes, Rebuilding Lives

A shelter organization at its roots, CHF International has extensive experience designing and implementing shelter programs in the aftermath of emergencies, both to provide post-disaster relief and to promote long-term reconstruction and development.  CHF works with communities to provide immediate aid, while simultaneously building their capacity to prepare against future emergencies.  

CHF has found that the provision of emergency shelter--referring to a basic roofed structure that can last approximately 1-2 years--not only alleviates suffering of families in the immediate term, but if constructed in an integrated fashion, can have a myriad of additional benefits. By training and employing local labor and making use of local material and technology, shelter construction can contribute significantly to the affected economy. In the longer term, shelter nearly always serves as a rent saving mechanism, which can become increasingly important as a way to build savings, wealth, and capital for further economic investment, and families living in improved living conditions benefit from better longer-term health, increased productivity, less absenteeism from school, etc.
 
CHF International also uses local labor and materials in shelter construction to provide additional economic support and income generation to beneficiaries.