How to Apply for a Habitat for Humanity Home
Building Blitz Underway on Coast

by Keith Burton - GCN  Filed 5/12/08

With former President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosaline on the Coast to spearhead the Habitat for Humanity home construction in the region, many people wonder, "How do I get a Habitat home?"

The answer is fairly simple, especially if you can get online, something even people without computers can do at their local library.

According the the Habitat for Humanity's official website, if your family, or a family you know, is in need of decent, affordable housing, people interested in obtaining a home need to contact the Habitat for Humanity affiliate serving your area.

Habitat affiliates are independent, locally run, nonprofit organizations. Each affiliate coordinates all aspects of Habitat home building in its local area, including partner family selection. Your local affiliate can give you information on the availability, size, costs, "sweat equity" work requirements and application process for Habitat houses in your area.

Every affiliate chooses its homeowners based on the same three criteria:

• the applicants' level of need,

• their willingness to become partners in the program

• and their ability to repay the no-profit, no-interest loan.

Neither race nor religion is a factor in choosing the families who receive Habitat houses.

Meanwhile, hundreds of volunteers with Habitat for Humanity from locations across America have arrived on the Coast in a new all-out blitz to construct or repair homes lost from Katrina. When work is finished in Mississippi, more than 250 Habitat homes will have been built or renovated since Habitat chapters in Jackson and Harrison counties merged in January 2007 into the Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife are in the area to focus public attention on the latest activity. More than 2,000 people attended a rally at Biloxi's Yankie Stadium this past Sunday.

Much of the work in Biloxi is centered at a construction headquarters established in the parking lot south of the Biloxi Lighthouse along U.S. 90. Workers there are prefabricating home foundations and walls to carry to the job sites to expedite the construction of the homes on lots nearby.

The hard thing for people to realize is that while the Habitat projects are greatly welcomed and needed, there is still an enormous need for homes, especially affordable homes and affordable rental homes. Surveys shortly after Katrina indicated nearly 65,000 homes in the region were lost or severely damaged. Many of the homes were older, wood-frame structures that are now on lots and at elevations that do not meet current city codes. Neighborhoods of those homes have not be rebuilt. The need for rental housing that people can afford still remains one of the major issues in the post-Katrina recovery that has not been resolved.

In addition to the Habitat homes, church groups and independent volunteers have rebuilt, or repaired hundreds of homes along the Coast, but that is still not enough. Many families and individuals have moved away from the area as they cannot find places to live that is affordable. The total numbers of these people have not been determined. As to the total number of homes still needed in the region, it is still considerable, just judging from the empty lots throughout the Coast area. A specific number is not known. Biloxi alone lost over 5,000 homes, only a fraction of that has been rebuilt.

The high cost of insurance, even in areas that did not flood is the chief reason for the slow reconstruction. Insurance has skyrocketed from 30 to 50 percent where it is being written. Many companies have stopped writing policies. The high costs have also slowed the sales of new homes, even for people who could normally afford a home.

The latest activity follows a visit two weeks ago by the Amir of Qatar who stopped in New Orleans and in Gulfport to view Habitat homes under construction there. Qatar provided $100 million for homes to be rebuilt in the region, $30 million for Mississippi, though up untill recently, the progress has been a bit slow. (GCN Photo above left: Amir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Governor Haley Barbour)

Today

Pascagoula: The former first couple will participate in an all-day construction of 20 homes in the 1000 block of Tucker Avenue.

The Mississippi Press reports that the schedule of the Carter's activities in the area are:

Tuesday

Mobile: The Carters will build alongside volunteers at the Biloxi Avenue site.

Wednesday

New Orleans: Law Street will be the construction site where the Carters will work during their stop in the Crescent City.

Thursday

The Carters will build in Covington, La., and Diamondhead in the morning before traveling to Biloxi, where closing ceremonies for the project will be held.

Friday

Pascagoula and Biloxi: House dedications will take place throughout the day in both cities. The Carters are expected to participate in some of those dedications.