Habitat empowers families

Many Habitat families say being selected for a Habitat home is even better than winning the lottery.

To be selected, all families must live in some form of substandard housing, meet income guidelines, have good credit and past employment history, agree to partner with Habitat to perform 500 hours of sweat equity in helping to build their own home, attend homeowners classes, meet weekly with a mentor, and be a U.S. citizen or have permanent resident status.

Habitat for Humanity is not a handout, but a hand up. Habitat homes are sold to families for zero profit, zero interest. Moreover, every month Habitat monitors homeowners' mortgage payments to assure that payments are made on time.

In the course of Greeley Area Habitat for Humanity's 18-year history, the affiliate has not had a single foreclosure.

While decent affordable housing is not the cure for every poverty ill, it does offer a haven for emotional and physical rest, and the stability empowers families in the pursuit of a better quality of life.

The importance of a decent place to live cannot be overstated, for with it comes stability and promise, family unity, hope and a foundation for which individuals reach their full potential.

Unfortunately, not all Americans have a decent affordable place they can call their own.

Consider a head of a household who works 52 weeks a year. Assume that person has health insurance, a perfectly maintained car and no financial catastrophes. He or she would have to earn $14 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment in Greeley at $731 per month. At minimum wage, $5.15 an hour, they could not afford that two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the estimated family median income for Greeley is $58,250. This means the people who need affordable housing are firefighters, teachers, auto mechanics, administrative support and many others.

In the past decade, demand for affordable housing has soared and supply has not kept up. Approximately 22,000 new homes are expected to be built along the northern Front Range within the next five years. In Greeley, some 5,573 new housing units are projected to be built by 2007.

With the future average selling prices for modest homes between $195,000 and $300,000, affordable homes will be come even more scarce.

The reasons for affordable housing are clear, the solutions less so.

Habitat for Humanity offers a proven solution. Habitat brings hope and a much better life through the building of modest but decent homes that are sold to families for the actual cost to build at no profit and no interest, which makes the homes affordable to even very low-income families.

Habitat builds more than just decent affordable housing. Habitat builds hope. Hope empowers families to follow their dreams and succeed in life.

Tom Chagolla is the director of Greeley Area Habitat for Humanity.