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 16th 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.
Joel Garreau.
1991. Edge City: Life on the New Frontier.