Habitat for Humanity needs volunteers, home recipients

Imagine if your mortgage was capped to 30% of your household income. For six future Faribault homeowners, that will be reality.

In northeast Faribault, next to Rice County’s new Public Safety Center, a housing development is officially underway. The first six single-family homes of that development are part of a grant-funded initiative to get families with low-to-moderate income into a home.

Rice County Habitat for Humanity is building those homes, possibly with help on one from local college students. The volunteer-driven program isn’t just in need of volunteers to help construct the homes, but also to bring food. Habitat is also looking for applicants to fill the homes, as well as future and ongoing projects elsewhere.

To learn more about either, visit www.RiceCountyHabitat.org and click the volunteer or the housing-help tab.

“We are looking for volunteers, always,” Wagner said. “Volunteers for our construction need to be 18 and older. They do not need to have construction experience to help us build a house. We have all the materials and supervisors that help people learn how to build a house.”

The six Faribault homes will be the first of a new development called Twin Oaks. While a current lapse of USDA funding having caused some logistical hurdles for Habitat around the country, staff of the local nonprofit still ask interested parties to reach out.

Several area nonprofits have help for prospective homeowners looking for credit counseling, down-payment assistance or other help getting into a home. Rice County Habitat also offers these services, and work with people to get them into a home.

The homes are generally meant for families making 80% or below the median area income. For Rice County this fiscal year, that’s right around $100,000.

However, the income limits also vary by family size. For a four-person household, they should make $80,700 or less annually. Specific limits per family size are available on the application page of Habitat’s website.

The applicant should also be a first-time homebuyer, and willing to put in 100 labor hours on the construction site, as Rice County Habitat Family Services Coordinator Erin Clark explained.

“There are three criteria that we go off of to consider eligibility for the program,” Clark said. “One of them is willingness to partner. So that’s someone coming on site and helping build — it might be their home or it be a neighbor’s home — just being involved, actively involved in the process. Also, willingness to pay. So that’s getting into you know, like, can they lock into a mortgage or not? And are they able to pay, you know, 30% of their income for their mortgage? But the final piece is the need for housing.”

That need for housing is prevalent in Rice County and beyond, but so is a lack of generational wealth to afford a home. Because of the way the grant is written, the homes must be affordable to first-time homebuyers without that equity.

Thanks to the land being donated by Rice County and other partnerships facilitated by Habitat, the six households will have the mortgage capped at 30% of their income.

“So you can use the rest of it for, not just living, but also emergencies, right?” Clark said. “Like, your car breaks down. There are a lot of people who have to choose: ‘Am I going to fix my car or am I going to pay my mortgage? Am I going to pay my electricity?’ So we’re trying to avoid that entirely and say ‘No, you know, we will make it work.’ … That way, what you’re paying on is no more than 30% of your income.”

Finally, the family should have a need for such a large house. Each one will have a minimum of five bedrooms. Sometimes, specific situations demonstrate the need too, said Community Engagement Coordinator Jodi Wagner.

“I would love to have a low-interest rate too and a guarantee for that 30%,” Wagner said. “But I have a nice home. I’m lucky, you know? So I don’t have that need … We have a homeowner right now that we’re trying desperately to finish their house. They had flooding in their basement — they’re renting — and the landlord did not clean up the flooding. They’re living in these conditions … So that’s the kind of need we’re talking about.”

Clark added that the role they play at Habitat for the homeowners isn’t just helping figure out how to build credit or lowering the mortgage for families.

“A lot of it is really just making the process feel less scary,” Clark said. “That’s the way I go about it is like ‘Hey, this is very normal. And it is confusing. Intentionally so, actually. And so let’s make this a little less confusing for you. And make sure you know what resources are available.’”

Ultimately, the goal is to help families build that generational wealth, experience the stability and peace of mind that comes with homeownership, noted Wagner.

“Habitat truly believes in a hand up, not a handout,” she said. “And we believe that our Habitat homeowners, because they’re in affordable homes, are able then to better themselves in other ways that weren’t possible before. Some of our homeowners are able to go back to school and get a different degree or further their education. It’s better education for the children. We have a higher graduation rate than if they were still renters. When they become homeowners, they create stability.”