Photo by Shamus Pons
When you think of Habitat for Humanity – and surely you’ve heard of it – what do you think? Come on. Really. Poverty? Crime? Lower property values? Home giveaways?
Think again.
Founded in 1976 in Georgia, the organization perhaps reached its biggest national exposure when former President Jimmy Carter embraced the organization and became an active participant in its projects in 1984. The involvement of a former Commander-in-Chief drew national and international media attention to the cause.
So what is Habitat for Humanity, exactly?
According to the organization’s Mission Statement, “Habitat works with God and people everywhere to develop communities with people in need by building houses so that there are decent houses in decent communities in which every person can experience God’s love and can live and grow into all that God intends.”
Still not sure?
Habitat for Humanity makes homeownership possible for people who don’t qualify for conventional mortgages. “Partner families,” as participants are called, have to work on Habitat building sites – and not just their own – and donate other time to Habitat-related efforts. They also are required to participate in classes for financial management, parenting, and other life skills. Then – and only then – can they purchase their own Habitat home. That’s right. You read it correctly: purchase.
Habitat homes are not giveaways for the “needy.”
In order for applicants to become partner families they have to meet three very strict criteria. They have to have a need for shelter, whether living in substandard housing or facing the risk of homelessness; they must have a willingness to partner with the Habitat organization, giving that “sweat equity”; and they must earn between 30 and 60 percent of the median family income. In Louisiana, the 60 percent mark would mean just over $30,000 a year for a family of four.
“Our families work very hard for the homes they buy and must maintain it just like everyone else,” said Debbie Crouch, executive director of the East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity, which has been in existence since 1992. “The Habitat model is designed to sell homes, not give them away to low income partner families and finance them with affordable mortgages.”
“Our” families? Did she say that? There’s a reason:
“ESTHFH partners with each of our families and that partnership does not stop once the homeowner moves into his house,” Crouch said. “It continues for a lifetime. Habitat creates lifelong partnerships and offers a hand up, not a hand out.”
Part of that lifelong partnership is financial, as the partner family commits to mortgage payments for 15- or 30-year loans.
“Between volunteer hours and donated materials, we are able to sell a home that appraises for $140,000 to $150,000 for approximately $85,000,” said Maureen Clary, President and CEO of the West St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity, which has been in operation since 1981. “We also sell the homes at no profit and with a no-interest mortgage.”
And the second element of that lifelong partnership is built in the relationships forged through the homebuilding process itself.
“Every Habitat homeowner agrees to do 300 to 400 hours of sweat equity on their home and other family homes,” Clary said. “This includes classroom work – financial fitness, parenting, career planning, etc. – and time spent on site building their home.”
In addition, Clary and Crouch said, about 6,000 volunteer hours go into the construction of each Habitat home.
“The sweat equity commits selected partner families to a new chapter in their lives,” Crouch said. “They work alongside volunteers from all over, and our affiliate construction staff. They work on their homes and those of their neighbors.”
It’s almost like an old-fashioned barn-raising, but in a modern form and with long-lasting effects – not just on the families themselves but on the communities in which they live.
Indeed, Clary has data that shows a reduction in crime of more than 50 percent in each of two neighborhoods where they undertook major projects – one west of Abita Springs and another in north Covington.
“While we cannot take credit for all the crime reduction, we are convinced that the sense of place that comes with home ownership lifts up entire neighborhoods,” Clary said.
And it only makes sense. While it’s certainly a myth that all renters make bad neighbors or caretakers of their rented homes, it only stands to reason that in many cases, at least, when you own it you take better care of it. And better-tended homes lead to increased property values and, arguably, a greater sense of pride in entire neighborhoods and communities.
So where does the money come from? Sweat won’t buy lumber.
Local Habitat affiliates operate Habitat ReStores, where new and “gently used” items are sold to the general public for construction or remodeling projects. The profit margin may not be vast, but in the world of non-profit community-building, every dollar is stretched a long way. And beyond that?
“Our funding sources include corporate sponsorships, where a business will sponsor a home for a particular family partner; faith-based support; individual donations; some grants, and the income we receive from our mortgages which we call our “Fund for Humanity” – payments from current homeowners funding the future homeowners,” Clary said. “So when someone donates to Habitat, it is an annuity that will go on for years.”
“Pre-Katrina we relied on community sponsors,” Crouch said. “Post-Katrina we received grant money through a program through Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) called Operation Home Delivery. Donations that poured into HFHI were distributed through Operation Home Delivery to the affected affiliates along the Gulf so we were able to write grants to build some of our houses. There were many affected affiliates so those funds didn’t last forever. We were fortunate enough to have many wonderful sponsors, some (of whom) started out as volunteers and were so moved they sponsored houses. We had sister affiliates become house sponsors, corporations calling wanting to sponsor houses.”
And local Habitat affiliates are busy.
“We have completed a total of 186 homes, 112 of which have been post Katrina, and we are on target to reach our 200th home in 2010,” Clary said. “We average 25-30 homes per year.”
From (1993) until early 2005, ESTHFH built 24 homes in partnership with community sponsors,” Crouch said. “In August of 2005, 20 of the 24 original homes were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. In partnership with Habitat for Humanity International, who led an unprecedented response to the catastrophe, we received the first House in a Box in the Gulf following Katrina. We were featured on NBC’s Today Show the week of October 3, 2005. Since that time East St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity has renovated 13 of the storm-damaged Habitat homes for our partner families and provided new homes for 85 families. Just recently ESTHFH was ranked the 14th largest affiliate in the nation for 2007 out of 1500 affiliates in the U.S.”
Think that’s not a lot? Think again. Last year, West St. Tammany Habitat for Humanity pulled so many permits from Parish Government that it ranked as the second most active homebuilder in the Parish. Let that sink in for a minute. Got it?
And who lives in these homes? Is everyone poor, disabled, uneducated and a permanent member of the “underclass”? Not hardly.
Clary cites a recent study charting the need for “workforce housing” – homes that are affordable to people with average or below-average incomes – people such as law enforcement, firefighters, bus drivers, bank tellers, and many retail workers. Indeed, St. Tammany’s economic success can become its worst enemy, as public servants and service-sector workers are driven from the area by high property values and who find jobs where they live to avoid high commuting costs. The study’s results showed a need for 7,400 additional workforce housing units by 2012.
Get busy,folks. Next year, Habitat may be in FIRST place in building permits issued – building the economy and quality of life, too.
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