Habitat for Humanity is for all who need it

Since 1973, Habitat for Humanity has been doing mainly one thing, build low-income housing for families in need around the world. And Fort Worth loves to help.

The seventh annual Habitat for Humanity event in Sundance Square began this week. Each year, Trinity Habitat from Humanity and employees from XTO Energy build a house downtown in about a week. It will be moved to the Hillside/Morningside neighborhood after it’s completed Saturday.

The recipients of the house, refugees from Myanmar, helped raise a wall of their new home Tuesday. They will move in later this year, an upgrade from their current apartment living.

That’s all great news, but some North Texans, through online comments, seem upset that a refugee family gets the house, rather than a native U.S. family.

To qualify for a Habitat home, the organization’s website says, a family must have a need for better housing, a willingness to partner with Habitat and the ability to pay an affordable mortgage.

That’s it.

No clause lurks in the small print saying who deserves a house more than another. No amendment hidden in a footnote says Americans should get a house before a refugee. None of that matters.

A family needed a home and now will have one.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Habitat for Humanity is for all who need it."