SHE is a rural California home building corporation founded on the principles of self-help. Lacking sufficient capital to purchase or finance a home by conventional means, a low-income family may elect to "self-construct with SHE". A participant family agrees to invest its labor, up to 1,500 hours, in the supervised construction of its own home and those of other participant families in its building group. This investment is accepted in lieu of, and taken in trade for, an equity in the completed home. Equity accrued is of 2 types: (1) "sweat equity", paid for in physical labor and (2) "enterprise equity", a result of any managerial function in the housing process. Both are considered to have equal cash value. A group of 8 to 12 participant families attend a lengthy series of meetings over a span of several months prior to the breaking of ground. A self-help home calls for long-term financial obligation and many hours of labor. Therefore, recruitment focuses on those who possess both the will to attempt and the strength to continue. The oldest, largest, most abundantly successful effort of its kind in the U.S., SHE is now entering its 10th year of operation. This paper presents a narrative history of the programs, philosophy, and people involved in SHE. A table of funding sources and a family progress report are also included. (NQ)