How An Affordable Housing Company In Mexico Tripled Its Social Impact

Denise Delara October 20, 2014 BUSB 342

International human rights law recognizes that everyone has a right to a decent standard of living, but rights to a decent housing are rarely guaranteed, especially for those living on the margins of society. Millions around the world live in life or health threatening conditions, overcrowded slums, and informal settlements or in other conditions which do not uphold their human rights and their dignity. There are up to 10 million people in rural Mexico most of them agricultural workers and their families who need a new home or home improvements in order to meet internationally recognized standards for adequate housing. In Campeche many families live in a single room, with dirt floors and tin roof tops. These families live in shacks, carton or stick shacks. After Hurricane Nora in 1997 a Company named Echale! A tu casa then a not-for-profit and Rafaella Piazzesi wanted to help with reconstruction by providing houses for the affected communities, providing disaster relief and effective charity work the government also helped. The work was successful they did homes and people were happy. They wanted to start another program for other affected people but the government decided their help had stopped. They would no longer continue to give houses away. So Échale went ahead without help from the Mexican government. They raised the funds needed to continue providing for the people with housing solutions. Rather than building temporary, prefab houses, they created more long-term solutions: houses made of cement, steel, and their own eco-friendly, sun-baked Ado-blocks. The business was great Echale sent out a team to check on the people and to their surprise some of the homes were abandoned or mistreated. The people did not see the great benefit they had by having a house that was handed down to them. Nine years later the company regrouped and came back stronger selling the homes to these people of course at a very affordable price because the family income is around $8,800 a year. New homes cost between $6,000 and $12,000 apiece, and customers are asked to pay 10 percent of the total cost up front. The people were happy to purchase because it was something they bought, their effort and their home.
Échale staff,