Habitat for Humanity homes might be thought of as just for low-income people. But Habitat La Plata director Rachel Taylor-Saghie says 56.5 percent of wage earners in the county have incomes that would qualify them for a Habitat home.
Unfortunately, the local Habitat chapter generally can manage construction of only two homes a year. This year's homes are nearing completion in the Fox Farm subdivision in Bayfield. Habitat will hold the dedication for the homes tomorrow starting at 2 p.m. All are welcome to come see the two-story duplex units. There will be a home blessing, recognition of donors and volunteers, a basket ceremony inside, and a flag ceremony outside.
The homes are going to two single women in their 50s and 60s with children and grandchildren, both of them very involved in the community, Taylor-Saghie said. "One has worked for the school district, and one works for Housing Solutions of the Southwest. These are people we need in our community," she said.
Fox Farm was created in the mid 2000s specifically to provide lots for Habitat and other groups to provide below market rate housing. It's the only place in the county where Habitat is building. Before that, Habitat built several homes in Forest Lakes.
This is Habitat La Plata's 21st year, and these are the 40th and 41st homes, Taylor-Saghie said. "We have 16 more lots after this at Fox Farm. They are all slated to be duplexes." Right now, two households is what they can work with each year. "It's difficult to generate enough capital to build more homes" than that, she said. Around 22 families are in the application process. She lamented that many give up and move out of the commnity, or they lose their nerve to take such a big life step.
Prospective Habitat families must go through an application process. "They have to have a source of income enough to support a mortgage, go through some education classes, and have the willingness to partner with 250 hours of sweat equity per applicant. So a husband and wife would have to do 500," she said. It's the essential buy-in to the process. There are restrictions to prevent "flipping" a unit for a quick profit.
The 30-year mortgages are structured with payments at 30 percent of the family's monthly income. "The beauty of that is that families that were living on what wasn't considered a livable wage, now the same income is livable," Taylor-Saghie said. "If somebody was spendng 70 percent of their income on rent and now they're spending 30 percent, they have money to spend on groceries or to fix the car. And they are building equity."
She cited studies that children living in a home the family is buying tend to do better in school and have fewer behavior peoplems than kids in rental situations. "Adults often vote for the first time and begin volunteering in the community. Home ownership gives that stability and serves to empower people."
Habitat's income limits are based on federal HUD limits for Fiscal Year 2015. The current Average Median household Income (AMI) in the county is $74,400. Habit's qualification range is 30 to 60 percent of the AMI. "It changes depending on the household. An individual must make at least $15,650," Taylor-Saghie said. "A family of four can't make over $44,000."
In 2011, 42 percent of county wage earners met the Habitat income guidelines, she said. Now it's 56.5 percent. "Housing costs are going up so much. The cost of housing is crippling businesses because they can't pay more, and employees can't live off what they're paid." She added that businesses also are dealing with higher real estate costs.
People are moving here with money and buying homes, driving up prices. "So the workforce is left with few options," she said. Rental prices also are affected.
"I feel a lot of federal and state money is being diverted to subsidized rentals," she said. "That's important and serves a purpose, but those don't solve the problem, especially in our community, because there's rarely an opportunity to move from that into a first home. People end up trapped in subsidized rentals, unable to move into a fair-market rental or a first home."
Some people forego a promotion or a better paying job that would put them over the income limit for a subsidized rental, but wouldn't provide enough income for an equivalent fair market rental, she said. College loan debt and medical bills are another barrier. "It's not credit cards or poor money management," she said.
"In my opinion, if we had a healthy community, we'd be helping people move out of subsidized housing. You see a lot of migrating out of the community. They want the American Dream. They find they can't get that here."
