HSBC helps build shelter for a better tomorrow

HSBC’s Corporate Banking arm partnered with members of Habitat for Humanity to help improve the lives of underprivileged communities.  The project which coincided with World Habitat Day, encouraged staff to volunteer their time to assist in the completion of several houses, a basic right of a human habitat for poor families living in Bandaragama on Saturday, 2 October 2010.  

Over 30 HSBC staff members together with members of Habitat for Humanity, reached the outskirts of Bandaragama to assist in the construction of 8 houses. The tasks ranged from laying roofing sheets to sifting sand for plastering of walls. This project assisted by Habitat for Humanity Sri Lanka intended to build six houses in Milleniya for deserving tsunami victims and later expanded to eight houses which needed to be completed for occupation.  

Habitat for Humanity in Sri Lanka works in partnership with poor families to build shelters via affordable, non – for profit, inflation – adjusted loans. Monthly payments from existing home owners go into a revolving fund which is used in turn to build more homes. Prospective beneficiaries are selected based on non –discriminatory set criteria, which ensures that assistance is given to the neediest families.

HSBC’s volunteering efforts directly link with the main goal of World Habitat Day, a United Nations initiative to encourage reflection on the state of towns and cities and the basic right to adequate shelter, whilst reminding the world of its collective responsibility for the future of the human habitat.