Habitat’s main goal is to strive for decent, affordable living conditions for all.

1. Habitat for
Humanity and the
Global Housing
Crisis

2. Based out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Mark Klinedinst is an
emeritus professor of economics at the University of Southern
Mississippi, a position he has held for over 30 years. Outside of
teaching, Mark Klinedinst is involved in philanthropy and
supports organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, a global
nonprofit organization that works across all 50 states and
around 70 countries to help eradicate the global housing
crisis.
Habitat’s main goal is to strive for decent, affordable living
conditions for all. Whether it is due to a natural disaster or an
inability to afford housing, the nonprofit is dedicated to
housing people no matter the cost or reason. In addition to
providing shelter, Habitat also offers education, training, and
strategic partnerships to affected individuals. In America
alone, almost half of adults experience housing insecurity at
least once in their lives. Because housing has become so
unaffordable for most, more than 50 percent of adults have

3. had to make at least one trade-off, such as cutting back on
groceries to afford their rent or mortgage.
Unfortunately, America isn’t the only country facing a housing
crisis. Habitat for Humanity has reported that populations
around the world have significantly increased, leading to a
shortage of available and affordable housing. Furthermore,
while one in five people used to live in urban areas 100 years
ago, today, more than 50 percent of the population does.
This reality has directly contributed to policy changes,
systems, and laws in order to adapt to this increasing growth.
Because of this, Habitat for Humanity offers help in building
new homes and repairing existing ones, as well as advocates
for laws to be implemented that will directly help individuals
and their communities.