Frequently Ask Questions.

There are many questions related to Habitat for Humanity International and Loudon County Habitat for Humanity. What follows are some of those questions and their answers.

 

QUESTION: Who qualifies for a Habitat house?

A family will be considered for a Habitat house only if they meet three basic criteria:

 

a. Need

b. Ability to pay

c. Willingness to partner with Habitat

 

The family is considered in need if their present housing is not adequate, and if such adequate housing is not available through conventional means.  Lack of adequate housing includes, but is not limited to, lack of structural integrity; violations of existing building codes as they pertain to plumbing, electrical systems, heating and cooling systems; or eminent threat of property condemnation.

 

The size of the family and the family income will also be considered because they relate to the attainability of adequate housing.  In all cases, the family’s income must not exceed 60 per cent of the Area Median Income (AMI) as defined by HUD. The 2007 income limits are as follows:

 

Family size 1                      2                      3                      4                      5

60% of AMI 23,050            26,300             29,600             32,900             35,550

 

Families must demonstrate their ability to make monthly payments on their mortage, including real estate taxes and insurance payments, without jepordizinf other family financial obligations and needs.  Families are expected to have a monthly income equal to at least four times the anticipated monthly mortage payment, which includes the traxes and insurance escrow, along with the principal payment. The current monthly mortage payment is approximately $350.

 

Families selected for Habitat homes must be willing to partner with Habitat and are required to work a minimum of 350 sweat equity hours for a single adult partner family and 500 sweat equity hours for a two adult partner family.  Sweat equity hours include, but are not limited to, working on construction of houses, working at the Home Store, and participating in educational workshops to help them prepare to be homeowners.

 

 

NOTICE:  The federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age (provided the applicant has the capacity to enter into a binding contract); because all or part of the applicant’s income derives from any public assistance program; or because the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.  The federal agency that administers compliance with this law concerning this creditor is the Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580.

 

Revised 4/1/07

QUESTION: How do you select the families?

About once a year we solicit applications for Habitat housing. Announcements are made in the local newspapers and on radio stations that carry public service announcements. We also notify a number of churches and other organizations that support us, and post signs in our Habitat Home Store.

The application packets­—in both English and Spanish—are available at the Habitat Home Store in Lenoir City and at the Good Samaritan Centers in both Lenoir City and Loudon. They have complete instructions, including a list of required background documents to prove residency, as well as to help us evaluate whether the applicants meet our criteria and have potential to become successful homeowners.

Applicants are invited to complete the application form and to bring all required documents to a personal interview, which is a preliminary screening to see if the applicant meets basic criteria. The date, time, and location for the interviews are given in the instructions.

If the applicant passes the preliminary screening, our Family Selection Committee begins the in depth screening process, which usually takes three to four months.

First, maybe we need to state for the record that we willingly comply with the letter and spirit of U.S. laws and policy for fair housing. This means we treat all applicants the same, regardless of their race, national origin, religious faith, physical capability, marital status, and any number of other factors that can be used to categorize people.

As part of the screening process, we make sure all our applicants are legal residents of Loudon County for at least one year. Even if an applicant is a legal resident of a neighboring county, they’re not eligible for a Habitat home in Loudon County.

As part of the screening process, each applicant—regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin—is required to produce identification in the form of a Tennessee driver’s license, a voter registration card, or an updated visa.

A variety of documents help us establish residency and also help us evaluate financial responsibility and personal reliability. Applicants must submit copies of two years’ Federal tax returns and produce Social Security cards for each member of the family. We do verify the Social Security numbers.

We also require copies of pay stubs and other proof of steady income (such as Social Security, disability, or child support) that helps us evaluate the applicant’s ability to make house payments both now and over the 25-year term of the zero-interest mortgage. Almost all of our applicants are currently employed full time, and we do contact their employer for verification.

We review bank statements and utility bills, and we do a credit check on each family. While a bad credit score doesn’t necessarily eliminate the applicant from consideration, it does give us an idea of their financial history and their ability to manage family finances.

Our Family Selection Committee, headed by our affiliate vice president Jeanne Darnell, reviews and discusses each case individually. Teams of two people visit each applicant family in their current home to get to know them better and to take a look at their current “inadequate housing.”

After three to four months of screening and evaluations, our Family Selection Committee will recommends to our Board of Directors which of the applicant families to accept into our program. We then invite these families to partner with us and begin working their way to homeownership.

QUESTION: How can I volunteer?

 

You don’t have to be a skilled craftsman to help build a Habitat home. Although we do need volunteers skilled in such tasks as rough framing, roofing, electrical, plumbing, painting, vinyl siding, and finish carpentry, we also need unskilled volunteers who are willing to learn. Even if you’ve never held a hammer in your hand, we can teach you.

 

There are no “male” or “female” jobs with Habitat. In fact, we’ve built five houses using women volunteers almost exclusively.

 

Volunteers must be at least 16 to work on the construction site and at least 14 to work at the Habitat Home Store, but there is no upper age limit. We leave that to your own discretion.

 

You don’t have to make a long-term commitment. We practice “precision scheduling” of our volunteers so we know exactly who’s coming to work on each day. You can commit to one day at a time, or you can sign up for several days, if you like. We only ask that you meet your commitment if at all possible, and that you call us in advance if you need to cancel so we can find a replacement.

 

There’s plenty of work for everyone, including those with limited physical strength, those who are uncomfortable with heights, and those who can only contribute a few hours of their time. Here are some examples:

 

•     Paint doors and woodwork. Touch up wall paint.

 

•     Install door knobs and other trim. Caulk and fill nail holes.

 

•     Clean house before our partner family moves in.

 

•     Provide meals, snacks, and drinks for construction volunteers.

 

•     Help with administrative tasks such as preparing newsletters for mailing,

coordinating volunteers, keeping records, or writing thank you notes.

 

•     Support the Habitat Home Store by volunteering or by donating items for resale.

 

•     Raise money for construction through your church, civic organization, employer or other source.

 

•     Donate materials and services that will reduce our cost of building a home.

 

•     Invite us to meet with your church; your civic, social or professional organization; your employer; or other sources of volunteers, materials, or funds.

 

•     Serve as a member of the board of directors, a committee member, or a sponsor for one of our partner families.

 

For more information on volunteer opportunities, please call:

 

For construction: (865) 640-5578

 

For the Habitat Home Store:  (865) 988-7427

 

For general questions: (865) 986-3388

 

Posted 12/18/07

QUESTION:  Do you have an age limit?

We’re often asked by retirees who want to volunteer, “Do you have an age limit?”

 

The short answer is, “Yes, you have to be at least 14.”

 

Habitat volunteers—including construction volunteers—come in all sizes, shapes, and ages.

 

Our youngest regular volunteer, Katie Segraves, just turned 10 last year. Her dad helps us build houses, and for the past two or three years, when a house is finished and ready for the final cleaning before the new owners move in, he brings Katie to help vacuum the new carpet. That is, if she’s not in school that day. Katie loves working alongside our more experienced house cleaners, and often tries her hand at washing windows or wiping out the tub.

 

We don’t know who our oldest volunteer is, but we know we have a number of construction volunteers—both men and women—who are in their 80s. They help us frame walls, install windows and doors, attach vinyl siding, and do the painting and interior finish work. We also have Home Store volunteers who run the cash register and help sort and price donated items for sale. Our volunteers also help us with office work, special events, and fundraisers.

 

We don’t place limitations on our older volunteers. We leave that up to the individual, their spouse, and their doctor.

 

All that said, we do have official policies that place limits on what our younger volunteers can do.

 

In general, a young person must be at least 14 to volunteer at the Habitat Home Store. This can be very satisfying for those who need community service hours for school or Scout projects. Teens can volunteer either as individuals or as a small group.

 

Young people who are 14 or 16 can do limited work on the construction site. They can paint or help with landscaping, or can help with construction-related projects, but should not be on site when heavy construction is going on.

 

Volunteers who are 16 or 17 can do general construction but cannot do excavation, demolition, use power tools, work at heights above six feet or do roofing. They can do general carpentry.

 

Anyone who is 18 or older can do any of the various construction jobs on the worksite.

 

Here are some specific tasks for young people:

 

Under Age 14

 

Landscape (spread grass seed and straw, create flower beds, plant trees and shrubs)

Prepare and serve food for volunteers

Raise money to purchase building materials (i.e., doors, windows, shingles, etc. We can supply ideas and prices.)

Collect gift basket items for Habitat family (i.e. cleaning supplies, yard tools)

 

Age 14 and 15

 

All of the above

Paint doors and trim

Paint walls

Paint storage sheds

Final house cleaning

Wall insulation

Crawl space insulation

Caulk and touch up paint

Help electricians pull wires through walls

 

Age 16 and 17

 

All of the above

Rough framing using only manual tools

Carry and place floor and roof trusses

Vinyl siding (no more than six feet above ground level)

Assemble kitchen cabinets

Electrical wiring (outlets and receptacles, light fixtures, etc)

Install doorknobs

Help set up scaffolding (first and second stories only)

 

Teens must always be supervised by an appropriate number of responsible, mature adults. Depending on the task, small groups or a one-on-one work team may be more effective than a large group project. Teens exhibiting careless, disrespectful, irresponsible, or dangerous behavior will be sent away from the worksite.

 

Please contact the construction coordinator if you have specific questions.

QUESTION: What can young people do?

Habitat for Humanity International has very specific rules about what children and teens can and cannot do on the construction site. However, we do want to encourage young people to get involved in community service, to understand the circumstances of those less fortunate, and to be active participants as their church, club, or other organization works on a Habitat house.

 

From time to time a Brownie troop will plant flowers or bake muffins for our volunteers. One summer, a pre-school class made sack lunches and brought them out to the construction site. Of course, we stopped construction and gave them a well-supervised personal tour of the house framework.

 

Over the years, we’ve come up with some creative ideas on how children and teens can help with a Habitat house, and yet stay safely within the limits placed on us by Child Labor Laws, insurance policies, Habitat for Humanity International rules and guidelines . . . and plain old common sense.

 

If your church or other organization is working on a Habitat home, the children can help with awareness and publicity. They can draw posters or hand out flyers or brochures after services or at other gatherings. They can create skits about what it means to live in inadequate housing.

 

Youth groups or Scout troops can host spaghetti suppers, chili cookoffs, rummage sales, or other fundraising activities. It may be helpful to set a fundraising goal by identifying how much it will cost Habitat to purchase a box of nails, a bathtub, a window, a set of roof trusses, etc.

 

Landscaping is a project that can combine both fundraising and hands-on work for volunteers of all ages. Habitat will lay down a layer of topsoil and will provide grass seed and straw (if needed.) Volunteers scatter grass seed and straw, prepare flowerbeds, plant shrubs and flowers and trees, and mulch the flower beds. They can also provide steppingstones by the outdoor faucets and/or a little pad for the outdoor trashcans to sit on. We often have Boy Scouts who do this as their Eagle project, but it can be done by garden clubs, high school clubs, church groups, or anyone who's willing to organize it. Kids of any age can help with this, as long as there’s adequate adult supervision.

 

Young people can also work on a "welcome home” gift for our new homeowners by collecting or raising money to purchase one of the following:

 

• Yard tools: garden hose, sprinklers, outdoor trashcans with wheels, rakes, hand tools for gardening. Most of our families have not had a yard to care for and will need to buy the essentials as soon as they move in. A used lawn mower in good working condition will be welcome.

 

• A wreath or decoration for the front door.

 

• A "cleaning basket" for the house: laundry basket, paper towels, toilet paper, cleaning products, cleaning sponges/rags, broom, dust pan.

 

• Kitchen staples: flour, sugar, salt, basic canned goods or dry products (macaroni, spaghetti, etc).

 

• A gift card to Home Depot, Wal-Mart, or similar store to purchase ceiling fans. (If our families want ceiling fans, they're responsible for purchasing them, but we install them as we finish the house.)

 

Another thoughtful idea is to create a "name" for each of the Habitat kids' bedrooms, such as their names painted on a decorative placque or embroidered onto a pillowcase or throw. Craft stores sell letters cut out from wood that can be painted and attached to a stand. The point is to have something that identifies the child’s new bedroom as his. Our Habitat children often have had to share a room with several siblings, parents, or other relatives. Or maybe their sleeping area was a closet. In one family the father, mother, and three young boys slept together in two twin beds pushed together. Another family of four slept on sofa cushions and mattresses in the unfinished attic of a relative’s house. In another family, a teenager slept on the sofa in her grandmother's house. We can give you info on the children as soon as we assign the house to a Habitat family.

 

Use your creativity to include school classes, youth groups, Scout troops, and individual children and teens. It can be a very rewarding experience for everyone involved, and can set the stage for more extensive community service as adults.

QUESTION: How can we sponsor a home?

 

Sponsoring a Habitat for Humanity home is a great way for your organization to help our community while building teamwork and a sense of pride. Your sponsorship can include the following:

 

•     volunteers to build the home

•     funds to purchase construction materials and professional services

•     donations of construction materials or professional services

•     hospitality services such as snacks, drinks, and lunches for volunteers

•     mentoring a Habitat family

•     publicity within your organization and your community

 

A full sponsorship includes providing enough money and volunteers to build the entire house. Partial sponsorships involve sharing tasks and funding with another organization or with Loudon County Habitat. We can help you find the right level of sponsorship to fit your capability and interests.

 

Our Construction Director will supervise the overall construction of the house. You may provide skilled crew leaders, or we can recruit from our experienced volunteers. Both skilled and unskilled volunteers are welcome, and we can provide training, if needed. Your volunteers with physical limitations can help with painting, detailed finish work, hospitality services, or administrative tasks. They can work in our Home Store to raise additional funds, or can help prepare our Habitat families for home ownership.

 

Our Construction Coordinator will help you plan the work schedule to meet the needs and availability of your volunteers, including working on Saturdays and holidays. We’ll tell you how many volunteers are needed each day and help you organize and recruit your work crews. We provide house plans and tools, and arrange for delivery of all construction materials and subcontractor services.

 

The excitement builds as co-workers from different departments, supervisors and employees, committee members, church members, and family members work together, learn together, sweat together, and see immediate, tangible results as the house takes form. They know they’re changing lives and improving their community. What greater legacy can your organization leave?

 

For more information, call us at (865) 986-3388.

Posted 12/18/07

How much does a Habitat house cost?

Do the families have to pay for their homes?

QUESTION: Are all Habitat homeowners legal residents?

As the debate on what to do about illegal immigrants continues in Congress and in the news media, we’re getting questions from our supporters and comments from our detractors concerning the legal status of our Hispanic homeowners.

First, maybe we need to state for the record that we willingly comply with the letter and spirit of U.S. laws and policy for fair housing. This means we treat all applicants the same, regardless of their race, national origin, religious faith, physical capability, marital status, and any number of other factors that can be used to categorize people.

We build the houses, sell the houses, and hold the mortgages so even though we’re a nonprofit, charitable organization, we’re required by law to comply with the same fair housing laws and policies as commercial builders, Realtors, and mortgage lending companies.

It’s the law, but as Christians, we also know it’s the right thing to do—to treat everyone fairly and equally.

So as part of the screening process, we screen all our applicants to be sure they’re legal residents of Loudon County for at least one year. You read that correctly. Even if an applicant is a legal resident of a neighboring county, they’re not eligible for a Habitat home in Loudon County.

The basic application contains a list of documents that must be submitted to prove residency, as well as to help us evaluate whether the applicants meet our criteria and have potential to become successful homeowners.

As part of the screening process, each applicant—regardless of race, ethnicity or national origin—is required to produce identification in the form of a Tennessee driver’s license, a voter registration card, or an updated visa.

A variety of documents help us establish residency and also help us evaluate financial responsibility and personal reliability. Applicants must submit copies of two years’ Federal tax returns and produce Social Security cards for each member of the family. We do verify the Social Security numbers.

We also require copies of pay stubs and other proof of steady income (such as Social Security, disability, or child support) which helps us evaluate the applicant’s ability to make house payments both now and over the 25-year term of the zero-interest mortgage. Almost all of our applicants are currently employed full time, and we do contact their employer for verification.

We review bank statements and utility bills, and we do a credit check on each family. While a bad credit score doesn’t necessarily eliminate the applicant from consideration, it does give us an idea of their financial history and their ability to manage family finances.

Of the record 43 applications we received in March 2007, we eliminated 20 through the initial interview and review of their documents.

To be even more certain that we’re fair to everyone, we form a committee of board members and community volunteers who screen the applications and discuss each situation. Our Family Selection Committee, headed by our affiliate vice president Jeanne Darnell, reviews and discusses each case individually. Teams of two people visit each applicant family in their current home to get to know them better and to take a look at their current “inadequate housing.”

After four months of screening and evaulations, our Family Selection Committee recommended 12 new families for our housing ministry. We have invited these families to partner with us in working their way to homeownership.

The selected families include seven couples with children, two single fathers, and three single mothers. Nine families are Caucasian, two families are Hispanic, and one family is Black. Ages range from 21 to 54 years.

And all are legal residents of Loudon County who are willing to partner with us to build a simple, decent home that their family can afford.

Posted 12/18/07

QUESTION: What is a “simple, decent, affordable” house?

 

Not too long ago there was a house in Knoxville advertised for sale for $40 million. The 44,500 square foot mansion has 49 rooms, 16 bathrooms, 11 fireplaces, and a six-car garage. The white marble patio is 100 feet wide. A friend of the owner reported his enjoyment at watching the butlers (note the plural) feed the 150 or so goldfish in the pond. The house was built and appointed by expert craftsmen and boasts a ceiling mural in the large foyer, as well as a winding staircase right out of “Gone With the Wind.”

 

Not too long ago there was a house in Lenoir City sold for $75,000. It’s a cozy 1,056 square foot home with 3 bedrooms, one bath, and a kitchen-dining-living room area. The house was built by volunteers of varying skill levels, using basic building materials. The kitchen boasts ready-to-assemble cabinets right out of a box at Home Depot. The owner painted the plastic mailbox blue to match the shutters.

 

Habitat for Humanity builds simple, decent, affordable, “no frills” houses. But we’ve found that—like beauty—“frills” are in the eyes of the beholder.

 

Habitat for Humanity has always had a policy of keeping house designs simple so as to use the minimum amount of building materials that is reasonable, but as prices for homes, land, and building materials have skyrocketed, we’ve become even more conscious of what “no frills” really means.

 

Our new volunteers are sometimes surprised that we don’t build garages, or that we don’t provide dishwashers or garbage disposals for our homes. These are on the official list of “frills” discouraged by Habitat for Humanity International.

 

For us, it just makes sense not to build garages. First, most of the lots we build on are too small for a garage. Second, the cost of adding a garage would make the house unaffordable to some of our families who are already watching pennies to cover food, shelter and other bare necessities.

 

Most of us grew up in homes where the kids did the dishes after the evening meal. Taking out the garbage meant bagging the food garbage and walking out to a barrel in the back yard. This was just a part of everyday life that taught children the value of teamwork and the responsibility of being part of a family. These days we’ve grown accustomed to having a dishwasher, and flipping the switch on the garbage disposal has become almost a reflex as we clean up the dinner dishes. But these are frills, also.

 

So why do some of our Habitat houses have dishwashers despite the “no frills” guidelines? Sometimes a relative or the organization that sponsors their house purchases a dishwasher for the family, or the family has scraped together enough money to buy a basic dishwasher themselves. In these cases, we’ll design the kitchen cabinets with a space for the dishwasher, and our plumbing subcontractor will install it for no additional charge.

 

Ceiling fans are another “frill” that is not provided by Habitat. As we work with our partner families to design their houses, we give them the option to purchase their own ceiling fans instead of using the generic ceiling light fixtures we would otherwise install. If the family chooses ceiling fans, our team of electrical volunteers will install them to make sure they’re wired safely and correctly and that they’ll pass the electrical inspection.

 

Most of the homes we build are beautifully landscaped—some include rock borders, medium-sized trees, and steppingstones. Habitat provides only the grass seed and straw; everything else is donated by the Eagle Scout candidates, local garden clubs, or sponsoring churches who have adopted the landscaping. Those groups also assume responsibility for designing and organizing the project, and for recruiting and overseeing the volunteers.

 

Our Habitat homes are well built and well loved. They may not be worth $40 million to a Realtor, but in the eyes and hearts of our new homeowners, they’re priceless.

 

Posted 12/18/07

What is a “support” family?

QUESTION: Are all Habitat homeowners legal residents?

 

Pat Summitt and Bruce Pearl work hard to coach their teams to victory. They help young basketball players develop their natural abilities, learn new skills, gain self-confidence, and learn what it takes to become successful. The coaches get to know their players, both on the court and off. They know when to be gentle and supportive, and they know when to point out the hard realities of life.

 

Somewhere along the way, the players learn to trust their own judgment, work as a team toward the common goal, and also give back to the community. Years later, they can look back on their college basketball days and say, “My coach made all the difference. I couldn’t have done it alone.”

 

It doesn’t take an award-winning professional coach to help prospective Habitat homeowners change their lives. But Loudon County Habitat for Humanity does assign mentors—known as “support families”—who use a simple formula: encourage them, coach them, and be a friend.

 

For Habitat families, the search for adequate shelter is a nightmare. Habitat families are low-income working couples or single parents who find it impossible to afford adequate housing through any conventional means. They may be living in public housing, in the unheated attic of a relative’s house, or in a cramped apartment with leaking plumbing and mildew that makes their child chronically ill. A family of eight may be living in a two-bedroom mobile home because that’s all they can afford.

 

Just the thought of living in a simple, decent, affordable, energy-efficient house or apartment is an impossible dream—because of current income, past mistakes, or family circumstances beyond their control. Owning their own home is beyond imagination.

 

But they’re willing to work 500 hours of  “sweat equity,” save money for their closing costs, and participate in educational workshops to help them prepare for homeownership through Habitat.

 

When it just gets to be overwhelming, when those sweat equity hours don’t seem to be adding up fast enough, or the thought of signing a 25-year interest-free mortgage is too scary, the support family can be their key to success.

 

Usually once each year, Loudon County Habitat accepts applications for housing from hopeful families. These families are diverse in almost every way possible. There are married couples, single moms, single dads, grandparents, and couples without children. There are Hispanics, Asians, Blacks, and Caucasians with a wide variety of employment situations. Some have physical, mental, or emotional issues; some have limited education.

 

As our Family Selection Committee reviews the applicants, checks their background documentation, and visits them in their current homes, they will select maybe 12 to 15 families who meet Habitat criteria and are candidates for homeownership.

 

At this point, the diversity of the families will be less significant than what they have in common: they’re currently in a low-income status, currently living in deplorable housing, and unable to find adequate housing. They’re also highly motivated to do whatever they can to improve their family’s lifestyle. They just need the opportunity—and a coach.

 

We refer to these coaches as “support families.”  A support family may be either a married couple or an individual. They just need to be dedicated to seeing their family succeed as they make the transition to home ownership. They offer support, advocacy, and friendship. It would be helpful to have several support families who speak Spanish.

 

Habitat’s Family Support Committee will provide training for the support families and a manual that outlines Habitat procedures and guidelines for the families working toward homeownership.

 

We like to start identifying support families early each year so we’re sure we have enough for each of our new Habitat families when they’re ready.

 

Habitat doesn’t need professional coaches, but we do need you. Call the Loudon County Habitat office at (865) 986-3388 to find how you can help change lives.

What is a “partner” family?

QUESTION: How many mortgates have you had to foreclose on?

 

ANSWER: Mortgage foreclosures are in the news these days. They’re making headlines in newspapers and magazines, radio and TV, and becoming a hot topic for political debate. Average Americans are learning more than they ever wanted to know about the “sub-prime” mortgage market and the potential impact of the mortgage upheaval on the U.S. economy.

 

Meanwhile, Congress has proposed bills to allow the Federal Housing Administration to back refinanced loans to tens of thousands of borrowers who are delinquent on their mortgages. According to an Associated Press report, an estimated 2 to 2.5 million adjustable rate mortgages are scheduled to “reset” this year and next, raising their interest rates far above the initial “teaser” rates that attracted home buyers over the past few years, and raising monthly payments out of the reach of homeowners.

 

For the past 15 years here in Loudon County, Habitat for Humanity has built simple, decent, affordable homes in partnership with 61 low-income families. Once a home is completed, the family signs a no-interest mortgage to reimburse Habitat for the cost of land, infrastructure, building materials and subcontractors’ labor.

 

However, in 15 years Loudon County Habitat has never had to foreclose on a mortgage.

 

The families who buy these homes are working in low-income jobs. Many have had misfortune in their lives--either self-imposed or through circumstances beyond their control. Some are lacking in formal education; some have credit problems; some have had health or lifestyle issues that now limit their earning ability or have created excessive family debt. All are trying hard to overcome adverse circumstances and are willing to do whatever is needed to improve their lives.

 

Whatever the cause of their current situation, they’re the target market for sub-prime interest mortgages and predatory lenders.

 

So, what makes the Habitat program work when record numbers of homeowners across the U.S. are now facing a real possibility of losing their homes?

 

In this case, the old adage applies: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

 

The initial screening of applicants ensures that only those families are selected who are able to afford the monthly house payments of approximately $300.

 

Habitat selects families who are motivated to “partner” with Habitat to earn their homes. A single-adult family must work 350 hours of  “sweat equity;” a two-adult family, 500 hours. This hands-on physical labor requires a serious level of dedication over a period of time that averages about 18 months.

 

Each family is required to participate in a series of workshops that help educate them about what it means to be a homeowner, how to manage family finances, how to make basic home repairs and take care of a yard.  In these classes, they learn to make informed decisions about the use of credit and the importance of a credit rating, as well as setting priorities for family spending.

 

Each partner family is assigned a support family—a family from the local community who makes a commitment to mentor, coach, and befriend the partner family as they work toward homeownership, and then to remain in close contact with them for at least one year after they move into their Habitat home. These support families can become a valuable resource and sounding board if the Habitat partner family runs into difficulty.

 

But despite all this education, experience, and support sometimes a Habitat homeowner does fall behind in their mortgage payments.

 

At that point, our mortgage servicing committee steps in. These volunteers have experience in mortgage banking, mortgage law, and their role is to manage the Loudon County Habitat mortgage accounts, which we hold ourselves. Each month they receive the payments and make note of those who are delinquent. They send out late notices, adding a late fee to the basic payment.

 

If payment is not received after an appropriate time, the Habitat family receives additional notices or phone calls. Committee members will set up a meeting with the Habitat family to discuss the reason for the slow payments, to review the importance of the credit report, and to work out a mutually agreeable plan to bring payments up to date.

 

Most often, the payment is late because of a minor issue that is soon resolved. Occasionally, the delinquency is because of loss of a job, a family illness, or other cause that may take longer to work through.

 

On very rare occasions, the Habitat Board of Directors must make a decision to begin foreclosure action by sending a legal notice to the delinquent homeowner. This decision comes after a very detailed—and very emotional—discussion and much prayer, as the Board seeks to balance its moral obligation as a Christian ministry with its mandate of good stewardship of the money and labor donated by our many supporters and benefactors.

 

To date, all issues concerning late mortgage payments have eventually been worked out and foreclosure has been avoided.

 

It is inevitable that one day there will be a foreclosure. When that day comes, it will be a sad day for Loudon County Habitat as we grieve along with the homeowner.

 

But it will come with the heartfelt belief that we have done everything we can do to help the homeowner resolve the situation, and that the most difficult decision we have ever had to make will ultimately be the one that enables our housing ministry to continue to help other families in need of adequate shelter.

 

Posted November 13, 2007

Where do you get your money?

DONATE TO LOUDON COUNTY HABITAT

 

The average cost of a Habitat for Humanity home in Loudon County was $75,000 last year. This includes the cost of land, infrastructure, materials, and subcontractors’ labor. We need your financial support to continue our mission.

 

Although Loudon County Habitat is an affiliate of

Habitat for Humanity International,

all funds for construction

must be raised locally.

While we are proud to be part of Habitat for Humanity International, we want our local supporters to be aware that a donation sent to the international headquarters remains there and supports their global mission. Likewise, a donation sent to the Habitat affiliate in Knoxville, Blount County, Anderson County, Monroe County, or to another Habitat affiliate remains in that county and supports their programs.

 

You may mail your donation to:

 

Loudon County Habitat for Humanity.

298 Village Square Drive, #115

Loudon, TN 37774

 

To donate by credit card, click the link below. Go to the orange button that says “designate your donation.” Type in "Loudon County Habitat" and select "Tennessee" or just type in our ZIP code: 37774. Habitat for Humanity International will send your donation directly to us.

 

 

 

Donate by Credit Card

 

Our Habitat Home Store is now raising enough money to fund our fixed administrative expenses, to help us purchase and maintain our tools and equipment, and to help us purchase and develop the land we build on. We also receive a limited amount of grant money to help with infrastructure and specific projects. However, to build our Habitat homes, we depend on contributions from businesses, churches, civic organizations, and individuals like you.

 

In addition to your monetary contributions, you can also support us by donating household items in good condition for resale at our Habitat Home Store in Lenoir City.

 

You can donate your car, boat, RV, or other vehicle to Loudon County Habitat by visiting www.carsforhomes.org or by calling toll free 1-877-277-4344. Proceeds from your vehicle will go to the Habitat affiliate that serves your ZIP code. If you live outside Loudon County, please use the toll free number and let them know you want your donation to benefit Loudon County (Tennessee) Habitat.

 

Loudon County Habitat for Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and your donations are tax deductible in accordance with IRS guidelines.

 

If you, your business, or your civic or faith-based organization would like to organize a fundraising event to benefit Loudon County Habitat, please contact our Executive Director Shauna Oden at (865) 458-0704 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

 

We actively seek sponsors for our homes. We request that our house sponsors make a donation of at least $25,000, although we would deeply appreciate a larger contribution. We will recognize your sponsorship with a large sign at the worksite and in other appropriate publicity. We will also accommodate your requests to assist with hands-on construction. If your family, your business, or your civic or faith-based organization would like to sponsor a Habitat home, please contact our Executive Director.

QUESTION: Does Habitat offer working vacations similar to church mission trips?

 

Vacations are times to relax, to re-energize, and to restore our sense of self. Vacations are so important to productivity that some major corporations have “use it or lose it” policies or require their key employees to take time off to “get away from it all.”

 

So why would anyone voluntarily take a “working vacation?”

 

Leisure travel has its appeal, but when you’re looking for just a little more, a working vacation can provide a sense of adventure and fulfillment not possible on that two-week bus tour of Europe or that sun-drenched beach in Mexico. A working vacation can combine travel with community outreach—a chance to immerse in a different culture and to experience things the typical tourist doesn’t.

 

Habitat for Humanity has affiliates across the U.S. and in 100 countries around the world, including such exotic locations as Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan. Many of them offer short-term volunteer opportunities through the Global Village program.

 

These organized one- or two-week trips balance work on Habitat houses with rest and free time. Most teams spend a few days visiting local historic sites or attractions, or participating in outdoor activities such as safaris, hikes in the mountains or rain forests, or kayaking. Volunteers work side-by-side with the local people and get to know them and their culture on a personal basis. Global Village trips are also available across the U.S. and in Alaska and Hawaii.

 

Don’t let your lack of construction experience stop you. The Global Village teams and most Habitat affiliates have leaders who are skilled in both the task at hand and in coaching new volunteers.

 

You can be as remote and primitive as you like, or you can stick to the familiar language and culture of the U.S with only the scenery changed.

 

To plan your working vacation, visit www.habitat.org and click on “Get Involved.” You’ll find information about Global Village trips as well as opportunities for RV-ers to volunteer while traveling, spring break trips for college students, and special projects at various Habitat affiliates across the U.S.

 

If none of those fits your interests or your schedule, select “Volunteer Locally” and type in the location you want to visit. Contact that Habitat affiliate directly and see what you can work out.

 

This is also a good way to help your relatives and friends fit a working vacation into a visit to your house in East Tennessee.

 

We were fortunate three summers ago to host a work team from a Jewish temple in New Jersey. Their 20-plus members included schoolteachers, lawyers, engineers, and other professional people who joined with members of Temple Beth El in Knoxville. All of the volunteers had planned their summer vacations around building a Habitat house in Lenoir City. It turned out to be the hottest week of the summer, but it was also a fascinating mix of New Jersey and East Tennessee dialects, kosher and Southern-fried foods, and the joining of voices to sing a Hebrew prayer to the tune of  “Rocky Top.”

 

We’ve also hosted a group of students from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth who were studying energy efficient housing construction. Their spring break visit coincided with construction of a house that was part of our research partnership with the ORNL Buildings Technology Center, so the students had hands-on experience with cutting-edge research that would influence housing construction throughout the U.S.

 

Last month, we were visited by two families who traveled from New Hampshire to spend three days installing cabinets and baseboards in two of our houses. The four parents and four teenagers, who are neighbors back home in Concord, made several stops along the way to tour Philadelphia, Blue Ridge Parkway, and other sites, then spent a day in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park before their long drive home.

 

Working vacations offer a refreshing opportunity to help improve the lives of others while getting an up-close-and-personal experience not available to most tourists. If you’ve “been there, done that” in all the typical tourist places, why not try something different next time?

 

Posted 12/18/07

QUESTION: What is “inadequate” housing?

 

People are curious. Before they give us their support, our volunteers and donors often want to know, “How do you pick your families?” Habitat for Humanity uses three criteria when evaluating families for its housing ministry:

 

1) Need

2) Ability to pay

3) Willingness to partner with Habitat

 

The second and third criteria are relatively easy. Just refer to an official chart to determine whether the income is “low” but still enough to make the house payments. Then, keep track of the “sweat equity” hours the family works, and check off the list when they attend their educational workshops and meet other requirements.

 

But determining “need” requires making a judgment call. We will consider a family for a Habitat home only if they’re currently living in inadequate housing and unable to obtain adequate housing through conventional means.

 

To many of us, “inadequate housing” would mean a three-bedroom, 1,056 square foot house with only one bathroom. Or it means having only a one-car garage, or a master bedroom that’s merely 10 foot by 12 foot with a closet you can’t walk into.

 

But let’s get serious. What is “inadequate housing?” Habitat’s definition includes, but is not limited to, lack of structural integrity; violations of existing building codes as they pertain to plumbing, electrical systems, heating and cooling systems; or eminent threat of property condemnation.

 

Here are some descriptions taken from the home visits of Loudon County families recently accepted into the Habitat program:

 

Family #1 – A family of four shares a small home with a relative’s family. The family sleeps in the attic; the parents on a mattress and the children on pallets of cushions. Access to the attic is a steep staircase with no handrails or lighting.

 

Family #2 – A mother and son reside in an old singlewide mobile home infested with termites and with serious mold and mildew damage. The back door has no steps, leaving a 5-foot drop off. The heating and air system works erratically and there are plumbing problems. The family pays $400 a month rent.

 

Family #3 – A family of eight lives in a two-bedroom, one-bath older mobile home. They rotate sleeping arrangements among the two bedrooms, a couch, and a bed in the living room. The bathroom floor is squishy; there are severe mold and mildew problems, and the stove short circuits. This family pays rent of $350 per month.

 

“Inadequate” is so . . . well . . . inadequate to describe these living conditions. Maybe “appalling” would be more accurate. Or “deplorable.” It’s easy to see that these people need better places to live.

 

So why don’t these families just move into better housing? How do we know they’re “unable to obtain adequate housing by any other means?”

 

Another measurement we use is the “overabundance of housing cost burden,” an official term that means the cost of housing exceeds 30 percent of the household income. According to the Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA) the burden is “moderate” if less than 50 percent, and “severe” if more than 50 percent of income. Again, this is fairly easy to determine by working the math: compare the family income to the rent and utilities they’re paying.

 

So, even if comfortable, structurally sound housing is available, if the cost of that housing exceeds 30 percent of the family’s income, it’s considered “inadequate” for that family. A statistical sample taken from the 2000 census reports 835 families in Loudon County paid 30 percent or more of their household income for rent.

 

Each year the East Tennessee Development District (ETDD) surveys its counties to determine the average rent and vacancy rate. According to the 2005 ETDD survey, the average monthly rent in Loudon County was $482 that year. For a three-bedroom apartment, the average rent was $497.

 

But here, another factor slips into play—the availability of rental housing. In the 2005 ETDD survey, Loudon County reported an overall vacancy rate of 3.5 percent in its apartment stock. According to ETDD, “it is generally accepted that there should be at least a 5 percent vacancy rate in order to allow people an adequate selection of housing.” Keep in mind that this is availability of “apartment stock” in all price ranges, not just in the price range that our low-income families can afford.

 

Numbers and statistics have a tendency to cloud the mind, and sometimes cloud the issue. What do all these facts really mean?

 

Charles missed work often because of frequent severe headaches caused by the extreme mold and mildew damage in the small house his family lived in.

 

Michelle hurt her leg when she fell through the rotted floor of her family’s singlewide mobile home.

 

And then, there are the children. Bradley’s “bedroom” was a closet. Baby Brayden wasn’t allowed to crawl on the floor because his family lived in the basement of his grandparents’ home and the basement had a cold concrete floor. Deanne and her mom slept on Granny’s hide-a-bed and her younger brother lived close-by with another relative.

 

Each of these five families is now living in a simple, decent, affordable, energy-efficient home built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity volunteers. Each of these families is making house payments of approximately $300 on a 20-year, no-interest, no-profit mortgage. Each of these families is living in that house described earlier that most of us would consider “inadequate”— that three-bedroom, 1,056 square foot house with only one bathroom, a master bedroom that’s merely 10 foot by 12 foot with a closet you can’t walk into. And each of these families is now thriving.

 

Posted 12/18/07

QUESTION: How does Loudon County Habitat build “green?”

 

Habitat for Humanity is well known worldwide for building simple, decent, affordable homes in partnership with low-income families. But what’s not so well known is our commitment to “building green” by making sure those houses are energy efficient.

 

Here in Loudon County, we build all our houses to meet TVA’s “Energy Right” standards.

 

But wait . . . aren’t the terms “simple” and “affordable” incompatible with “energy efficient?” Doesn’t it cost a lot more money to build an energy efficient house?

 

The answer to both questions is “no.”

 

With a little extra scrap lumber and plywood, for instance, we build a dropped ceiling that positions the main heating and air ductwork within the house’s living space, and drops the air vents near the bedroom doors rather than next to the windows. A few extra tubes of caulk help seal all penetrations through the floor and walls, making the house significantly more airtight than standard building practices call for.

 

We also help our homeowners learn to use ceiling fans, exhaust fans, thermostat settings, water heater settings, and other devices to lower their energy bills low while keeping their home comfortable.

 

Building energy-efficient homes is just one way we help maintain our environment.

 

Over the past eleven years our Habitat Home Store in Lenoir City has become a favorite shopping spot for bargain hunters, treasure seekers, and low-income families who confirm the wisdom that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” To keep the Home Store stocked, donors from throughout Loudon County and the surrounding area drop off their unwanted clothing, furniture, appliances, and other household items, or call for these items to be picked up in our 15-foot panel van—a retired and recycled Frito-Lay delivery truck.

 

We use the proceeds of our Home Store to build more houses, but there is added value in donating and reselling unwanted items. Using a generally accepted formula based on gross sales, our Habitat Home Store kept an estimated 216 tons of material out of area landfills in 2006 alone.

 

Habitat for Humanity recycles more than unwanted household items. We also recycle land. When a property owner defaults on tax payments, when heirs need to dispose of a family home in poor condition, when generous donors want to transfer an unwanted lot, we’re able to purchase the lot at a greatly reduced cost or receive it as an outright donation. We then demolish an existing building, restore the lot, and build a new home for a low-income family. Not only will the family now have an affordable, safe, comfortable home to live in, but also the neighborhood will be improved and the lot will be back on the property tax rolls, generating income for the county.

 

Since1992, our Habitat homes have added more than $4 million to the tax base of Loudon County.

 

In 2006 we were able to purchase 18 acres near Highway 72 and Steekee Road and are now developing a new subdivision we’ve named Hope Haven.

 

Architects and development engineers worked with us to design a neighborhood with environmentally friendly green spaces, drainage, natural vegetation and other features usually found only in modern, upscale neighborhoods. These features will have a lower impact on the environment than standard designs and will give our new subdivision more of a ‘neighborhood’ feel. Not only will this design save us money, but it’s also the right thing to do.

 

Habitat for Humanity’s basic mission is to help low-income families in need of adequate shelter. These are families who have come on hard times—as a result of personal decisions, tragedy, illness, or misfortune. They’re motivated to make a better life for themselves and their children, but need a bit of a helping hand, a little guidance, a little encouragement from those who care. We offer an opportunity for them to build a new life—to recycle their old way of living and turn it into a new hope for a better future.

 

Posted 12/18/07