People come from all walks of life.  We speak different languages, we pray to different gods, we eat different foods, and we listen to different music.  No matter what our differences are we all dream of owning a home.  Unfortunately, success in this country lies heavily on people who have money, and those who do not are left out in the cold.  The government can only provide so much assistance to families in need, and banks do not loan money to low-income family for fears of defaults and foreclosures.  Therefore, these low-income families are struggling for a place to call home. 

     In 1976 with hopes of eliminating poverty housing, Millard and Linda Fuller founded Habitat for Humanity.  This non-profit organization has been making those dreams of owning a home a reality.  Habitat for Humanity relies heavily on donations within the local communities, which includes churches, stores, and individuals’ contributions.  In addition, Habitat for Humanity survives with the help of enormous number of volunteers, including former President Jimmy Carter. Today, this organization is thriving in 83 countries all over the world, and has built over 120,000 homes.  

     The City of Phoenix houses a diverse level of income.  For families working minimum-wage jobs, living with large household expenses in run down overcrowded apartments is becoming the norm.  These families include teachers, firefighters, police officers and women, and health care workers.  For people living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no savings, banks are denying traditional home loans.  Habitat for Humanity is able to help the some of these families; however, single people, couples without children, or elderly do not qualify. Through a qualifying program, future homeowners must have a good credit history, a stable income for two years that falls below 30 to 65% of the median income, and do 400 hours of sweat equity.  A three-bedroom home costs $93,000 and a four-bedroom home costs $95,000.  New qualified homeowners are approved for a loan by the Habitat for Humanity organization with a 0% interest payable in 10 to 30 years.  Mortgage payments include the monthly loan, property taxes, homeowners insurance, and homeowners associations.

      Habitat for Humanity succeeded in building a first major subdivision project named South Ranch located between 16^th Street and Southern in South Phoenix.  Bank One donated this land after another building company went bankrupt, and it was zoned for 195 homes with a children’s park and a homeowners association.  Neighbors surrounding this area banded together to fight against this development, but at the end this new community was welcomed for it increased property values within the community.  Another smaller subdivision located on 15th Ave and Southern called Villas Esperanza with 92 new homes is following the footprints of South Ranch.

     My class and I had a wonderful opportunity to assist Habitat of Humanity build a home in Villas Esperanza subdivision.  As a class we were assigned to cut, nail, and paint the outer edge trim next to the roof.  Hammers in our hands, nails in our pockets, and a ladder to reach the sky, the feeling of such satisfaction overwhelmed me knowing that we were building someone’s dream home.  I could not help but imagine the family that would occupy this home.  I could almost hear the laughter of their voices, the happiness of owning a piece of land.  As we continued our work guided by two professional and knowledgeable staff, we were able to get a glimpse into the daily work of building these homes.

     What was causing neighbors surrounding the community to engage in a fight against Habitat for Humanity?  The idea that the homes would be occupied by low-income families. In an article, “A Federal Legacy: Phoenix’s Cultural Geography,” written by Linda Brunk says, “Anglos has been predominantly powerful group in Phoenix, and other minority groups, which includes African-Americans and Hispanics continued on the downhill economic decline”.  Even old deeds from the early settlers specifically had written in a requirement never to sell homes to people of color.  The neighbors surrounding this future development by Habitat for Humanity protested that the homes would be poorly maintained. There would be an increase in crime.  In addition, the value of other homes surrounding the communities would decrease in value.  Habitat for Humanity succeeded with the concept of letting surrounding neighbors know that these new homes would look as upscale as the other homes, and they would implement homeowners association, too.  The concept behind the HOA is that it would require communities to keep the homes and the parks clean.  However, as he explains in Edge City, Joel Garreau’s conception of HOA is an organization that contains more power within its hands than people had realized.  HOA’s set fees to support themselves, to allow them to make choices to whom this money would go, and how services will be paid.  They create rules and regulations that everyone must follow or be fined for disobedience and outlaws. Finally, HOA have the power to change misguided behaviors.  Though different subdivisions have different HOA rules and regulations ranging from if you can park your car on your own driveway, to how many pets are allowed per home, to not allowing children to live in retirement communities, any HOA can have its up or downs.  Nevertheless, future homeowners have the option upon buying a house with this volume of rules and regulations thrust upon them, it is one’s choice to decide if they want to live there.  Furthermore, hated or loved the HOA in South Ranch has produced a clean and up-scale looking neighborhood.

     Furthermore, the surrounding neighbors that once raised a storm about the South Ranch subdivision are now using this new community as a model for the rest of the neighborhood.  The homes have maintained and even increased property values in the community, and even helped the surrounding neighbors.  The fear of increase of drug use, gang activities, or even property devaluation has proven to be wrong.  In his book Privatopia.  Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government,”   Evan McKenzie explains, “Privatopia...where contract law is the supreme authority; where property rights and property values are the focus of the community life, and where homogeneity, exclusiveness, and exclusion are the foundation of social organization”. 

     Habitat of Humanity has helped many low-income families to have the opportunity of owning a home.  Help from the local communities in monetary donations, and hard, sweating human labor has been the key to building the future.  Leaving diversity behind, success often lies in the hands of those who volunteer to build a home from the ground up, and create a place to call home.

For more information contact:  www.habitatforhumanity.com

References

Brunk, M. Linda.  1996.  A Federal Legacy: Phoenix’s Cultural Geography.  Palo Verde. The Magazine of Student Writing and Art.  Volume Four, Number One.

Evan McKenzie.  1994.  Privatopia:  Homeowner Associations and the Rise of Residential Private Government.  Pages 178-197.