Description:
Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that builds homes for the working class poor. Each branch raises its own financial support for its building projects. Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity focuses its efforts in Baltimore city. They wanted a video that shows the volume of homes they’ve built in this community and the impact it has had on a larger scale—but wanted to make sure it told the story of individual home owners.

Obstacles:
We had originally hoped to follow one particularly family through the full process of being selected as a Habitat owner through to completion of their home. It wound up being too long of a process to follow in the time-period we had to make the video. There were limitations to what we could tape due to what homes were being worked on during this time period. It was difficult coordinating schedules of the home-owners.

Solutions:
We decided to capture the broader picture of what Habitat does in and for the city. We also wanted to show some volunteers and donors to give both the community being served and those serving a chance to reflect on their experiences. We made use of old photos to show the range of people who have been impacted through this organiztion.

Favorite Elements:
The interview with the Anirban Basu was a great bonus to the project—hearing from an expert on the broader impact of Chesapeake Habitat was great. Also, it was great hearing the testimonials of the different volunteers who really got something out of their efforts.