Habitat has open information meetings on the first Saturday of each month at 9 a.m.  Anyone interested in becoming a Habitat homeowner is welcome to attend.  The meetings are open door and no appointment is needed.   However, if you need special accommodations, such as a sign language interpreter or someone to help you to the area where the meeting is being held, please contact the office at 344-0747 prior to the day of the meeting.  After the information is presented, you can fill out an information sheet and someone will contact you concerning the steps you will need to take in order to become a strong candidate.   

Habitat is different from other housing programs.  We build houses "at cost" (we do not make any profit on the houses).  We sell the houses at no interest.   Families chosen to receive a Habitat home must give a minimum of 200 hours of "sweat equity" to the building of their and others houses, being present on the site each time there is a workday unless they are on their job.  Volunteers and families are critical to Habitat in every area of the program.  They reduce the cost of homes by giving their labor.

Being approved for Habitat housing is like taking a second job.  Families begin working in the program as soon as they are approved.  They will work on other families' homes and do whatever tasks need to be done.  As a lot is ready for building, or as a house is vacated by foreclosure, the family with the most hours is offered the opportunity to begin building a new home or redecorating and refurbishing the newly vacated house.  Remember:  Habitat houses are not exactly alike.  The only thing that everybody receives is the opportunity to own a home.

Often, a church or business donates half of the money and much of the labor to "sponsor" a house.  Money from homeowner payments and community donations pay the other half.  If there is no sponsor, Habitat uses donations and homeowner monthly payments to fund the entire house, and labor comes from community volunteers.   These volunteers are recruited to help make homeownership a possibility.  Without their dollars and their work, homeownership could not be possible.  Because of that, we expect families to spend most of their free time working with these volunteers on their home.  This means sacrificing some of your normal routines for three to four months, which is the average time it takes to complete a home.  A family's presence and willingness to do their part on the site is a way to thank the sponsor and volunteers.