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Local Habitat for Humanity chapter marks a milestone
from: fwbusinesspress.com
by Betty Dillard
When Niketricia "Tricia" Edwards walked out of her apartment one day last year and discovered her car up on blocks, the tires and wheels stolen, she resolved to find a better way of life for herself and her two-year-old son, Brandon.
Crime plus constant increases in rent brought Edwards, a single mother in her 20’s and an employee in the logistics division of J.C. Penney, to Trinity Habitat for Humanity, the Fort Worth-based affiliate of the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity International. Well known nationally and abroad, the ecumenical faith-based housing ministry builds quality, affordable homes in partnership with low-income families using all volunteer labor and donations of money and materials.
On Feb. 15, Edwards’ dream of homeownership in a safe, friendly neighborhood will come true when construction begins on her new home, just two blocks away from her mother’s in Fort Worth’s Como neighborhood.
The construction will mark a homecoming for Edwards, who grew up in Como.
Edwards’ house also is a turning point for Trinity Habitat, which started in 1989 with one project. Edwards’ home is number 300 for the affiliate, and boosts the chapter to one of only 14 U.S. Habitat affiliates to build 300 or more homes, placing it in the top 1 percent of its class.
"She’s very excited about ‘going home,’" said Trinity Habitat’s family program director Michelle Kennedy. "And we’re excited to have marked such a milestone within the community."
Trinity Habitat is one of more than a dozen affiliates in the North Texas region, and together, they have built more than 1,200 homes for 1,000 qualified people, including some 600 children, according to Diane Wolfe, the affiliate’s communications specialist. Service has expanded now to Johnson, Parker and Wise counties. In Tarrant County, the chapter focuses on two target areas, the near southeast side and the northside.
According to Gage Yager, Trinity Habitat’s executive director, the affiliate currently adds an estimated $2 million in value to the city’s property tax rolls, and its homebuyers pay more than $400,000 in property taxes per year.
"That says a lot about Fort Worth and the community," Yager said. "It shows the support of our volunteers and sponsors and their willingness to help. And the building of our 300th house backs up what we already know: Fort Worth is a great city to live in."
Like all Habitat applicants, Edwards met three basic criteria: a need for shelter, an ability to make the house payments and a willingness to partner on their home as well as other Habitat projects. Habitat homebuyers must contribute 300 hours of sweat equity on their own homes and, in turn, volunteer labor on other buyers’ houses.
"This is not a giveaway program but a true partnership. The 300 hours is essentially their down payment," Kennedy explained.
Habitat relies solely on private donations, and it offers direct financing to the homebuyers. House payments go into a revolving fund that helps build more homes for families in need. Trinity Habitat homeowners join an association geared toward civic participation and neighborhood crime prevention. All buyers complete an education program that includes classes on insurance and mortgages.
Edwards’ home in Como – which is being sponsored by Trademark Mortgage Co. and Country Day School – will join two others built in 2006 by Trinity Habitat, which launched a home-repair program called "A Brush with Kindness." The affiliate plans to make exterior renovations to 18 homes in Como this year, as well as build 35 new homes in neighborhoods within its four-county service area.
The affiliate hosted its Helping Hands Celebration last weekend and its big yearly gala fund-raiser – the Tool Box Bash – is set for April 27 with special entertainment provided by JOAN JETT AND THE BLACKHEARTS.
"It’s not just the homes or the neighborhoods that are transformed by our program," Wolfe said. "The greatest changes are in the lives of the volunteers who help build these houses and the people who live in them."
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