The recipients go through a very long and rigorous screening process and they are also required to contribute a certain amount of "sweat equity" on other projects before they are even considered to be a recipient.
HFH is a Christian ministry that provides recipients with a no-interest loan on these houses at a fair-market rate so they aren't exactly "give-aways" as many people would think.
The recipients are taught how to manage owning a home, how to do repairs, how to save money and put funds aside so that if they ever have to hire a professional, they have cash in their reserves. It's not Section 8 nor is it for anyone homeless so when they select someone to be a recipient, it's for a unique situation.
So far my experiences have been good. But understand that when you are dealing with people, you can't be surprised at what you discover. The biggest events on these projects is usually the "blitz build" where all of the volunteers get together to frame up a house all the way to the roof, put shingles on it. Then the vapor-wrap and siding are installed on the house...all within a week.
The people living there are taking good care of their homes and it looks like any other 'normal' subdivision. The only reason I know it was a HFH project is the BI told me.