HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2015-02-25, Page 3Huron County
Habitat for Humanity
to host open house
Family selection
committee to
be on hand
Marco Vigliotti
Huron Expositor
Habitat for Humanity's
Huron County chapter will be
hosting an open house at
Northside United Church in
Seaforth on Feb. 28 for those
interested in securing a home
under the charity's financing
and building program.
Members of Habitat's family
selection committee will be on
hand from 10 a.m. to noon to
walk those interested through
the application process and to
help determine if their eligible
to be accepted in the program,
Cheryl Jefferson, the group's
administration coordinator, said
in an email message.
The family selected by the
committee will assume owner-
ship of a house financed and
built by Habitat and its partners.
Under the application criteria,
the family has to be in need of
adequate housing, willing to
partner with Habitat and able to
invest 500 hours of so-called
sweat equity "by volunteering
for the affiliate in various ways,"
according to Jefferson.
They must also be able to pay
for house insurance, property
taxes and have "something left to
go towards the mortgage," she
said, adding that the group's
ability to offer a house to a needy
family wouldn't be possible
without its generous partners.
"Habitat for Humanity Huron
County is able to take back a
mortgage for a low income fam-
ily because of the great volun-
teers and donors in each and
every community in the county
helping to build the house in the
first place," Jefferson said.
In terms of concrete defini-
tions, the Canada Revenue
Agency defines a low income
family by evaluating a combina-
tion of number of family mem-
bers and its placing on the Low
Income Cut Off chart.
Jefferson said the family selec-
tion committee has the
"extremely difficult task of
reviewing the applications and
choosing between families" to
decide who is in the most need
of the home.
Some of the issues weighed
by the committee include
whether the families are renting
a house with structural or
mechanical problems, such as a
leaky roof or subpar plumbing;
and whether the size of their
current house is large enough to
accommodate all members of
the family, she said.
One of the other prominent
factors considered is cost,
which can severely limit a fami-
ly's ability to transition into
owning a home.
"The cost may be more than
50% of the gross family income,
leaving little for utilities and/or
groceries," Jefferson said. "When
a family has challenges paying
the monthly bills, saving for a
downpayment for their own
house is a distant dream."
The importance of home
ownership, she adds, transcends
having a a roof over your head
and rather is about "pride, self-
confidence and self-esteem."
The Huron County chapter will
also host a meeting on March
11th about the construction pro-
cess of the new house. Volunteers
and donors are being asked to
come out to the First Presbyterian
Church at 7:00 p.m. to leam more
about how Habitat brings
together volunteers from the
community to put up an afforda-
ble and decent house that is then
sold to a partner family.
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Wednesday, February 25, 2015 • Huron Expositor 3
Submitted
Habitat for Humanity's Huron County chapter is set to host an open house later this
month in Seaforth for those interested in assuming ownership of a home under the
charity's financing and building program. (Pictured) The Tilt Street house in Goderich,
under construction.
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