Alachua Habitat for Humanity partnering to build a better community

Since its inception in 1986, Alachua Habitat for Humanity has partnered with donors, volunteers, material suppliers, contractors, local, state and federal governments, and — most importantly — Habitat Family Partners to build energy-efficient and affordable homes in Alachua County. Using these multi-pronged resources that only a not-for-profit builder like Habitat can access, they are able to consistently build homes whose mortgages are 30% to 40% below median rental rates.

Why is this work so important? Alachua Habitat believes that everyone deserves a safe, decent and affordable place to live. But for many Alachua County residents, safe and affordable housing is financially unattainable.

According to data from UF’s Shimberg Center for Affordable Housing Studies, when student households are removed from consideration, one in three Alachua County households are cost-burdened, paying more than 30% of their income for housing. One out of every seven are severely cost-burdened, paying more than 50%. This forces families to make impossible choices between a healthy place to live, nutritious food, reliable transportation or even proper medical care.

How does Habitat manage to build affordable units? On the one hand, they appeal to the community we live in seeking financial donations, grants, and in-kind or discounted materials and services. Most of their work is carried out using volunteers supervised by construction professionals. People respond because they want to help; they want to see their community thrive. Community members also contribute to the Habitat ReStore, which sells donated household and building materials, which in turn funds their construction program.

Habitat is also able to build affordable units through the numerous mortgage discounts, first-time homebuyer assistance packages and other grants that lower base mortgages to levels that families can afford. Habitat’s professional staff have careers invested in locating and applying for numerous forms of assistance, such as:

• Florida Housing Coalition HOP loans

• City of Gainesville My Neighborhood Program mortgage buy-downs

• U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department grants, such as SHOP for infrastructure and property purchase, HOME for affordable housing construction, CDBG funds to cover the costs of site supervisors

• State of Florida SHIP funds for further down payment assistance, closing costs and critical home repairs

• Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta Affordable Housing program mortgage grants

• U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Assistance Program

• Numerous private grantors wanting to see a stronger more vibrant community, such as Publix Charities

• Financial institutions that participate in Habitat mortgages in exchange for capital to build more homes

Despite Habitat’s ability to secure such a varied array of mortgage assistance, they firmly believe that their program is a “hand-up” and not a handout. Habitat families take on the responsibility of making timely mortgage payments, which in turn fund the construction of more houses in the Alachua community.

In addition, they perform sweat equity, working alongside volunteers to build homes. They also take homeownership workshops that provide training on how to be successful homeowners.

Alachua Habitat aims to support the Alachua County community by empowering their homeowners to achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and their families. For further information about their program, visit www.alachuahabitat.org.

Scott Winzeler is the chief outreach and development officer for Alachua Habitat for Humanity.

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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Scott Winzeler: Alachua Habitat for Humanity empowers homeowners