Habitat for Humanity builds on local partnerships

Habitat for Humanity's mission is to build decent housing for people in need. The Springfield affiliate partners with the homeowners-to-be, churches, businesses, service organizations and lots of volunteers to build each home. People from all walks of life come together to create positive change in our community.

Habitat for Humanity's wide appeal is due to its mission of simplicity and faith-in-action. We build simple, decent housing on faith expressed by doing, not posturing. This principle was evidenced last week when two of our local Habitat supporters ran into each other in Washington, D.C. One was there to celebrate President Clinton's last week in office, the other to attend President Bush's inaugural festivities. It is not uncommon for individuals with differing views to come together in support of Habitat.

That kind of cooperation has made Habitat for Humanity International the nation's 15th largest home builder. The organization celebrated building its 100,000th house this fall. But as Millard Fuller (Habitat's founder) says, "We are just getting started!" Fuller and Habitat also recently completed the Sumter County Initiative, a program that effectively eliminated substandard housing in and around Americus, Ga., Habitat for Humanity's headquarters.

That success in Georgia inspired Habitat's 21st century challenge for communities to evaluate substandard housing and through collaboratives and planning set a date for eliminating substandard housing conditions. By upgrading the housing tax base, a community ensures its economic vitality and makes sure the business sector won't be saddled with a depleted tax base. There are many benefits to this challenge, and Springfield could be Missouri's first city to participate if we're willing to accept the challenge.

The eight families in Springfield who have moved into new Habitat homes this year put 300 to 1,000 hours of sweat equity into home construction. Those families will attest to faith in action as a way to achieve the American dream of homeownership. The Model Community for Affordable Living subdivision in northwest Springfield is evidence of Habitat's commitment to the city.

Springfield Habitat for Humanity is supported by an enthusiastic board of directors. The board handles a wide range of issues, from property acquisition and homeowners' associations to family selection and job costing. As a not-for-profit in the building industry, the Habitat board stresses building professionally and with heart. Habitat hopes that by building in an efficient and cost-effective manner, we earn the support of the local building community.

Of course, it takes money to build houses, and Habitat utilizes both conventional and unique fund-raising strategies. Habitat for Humanity is a United Way agency, and we receive tremendous support from the community in that quarter. Our affiliate also operates The ReStore, a building materials warehouse which is open to the public at 4535 W. Chestnut Expwy.

We accept and sell donated remodeling and building materials to generate funds to support our housing program. Everybody, from the building and trades supplier to the construction company and the do-it-yourselfer, can participate in this endeavor by donating new and used building materials to The ReStore. Your tax deductible contribution has the added environmental benefit of preventing usable building goods from going to the landfill.

There is so much about Habitat that is good for our community. We are blessed with a robust building economy. This translates into a community-wide commitment to Habitat and its proven recipe for success.

The excitement is building!

(Dennis Radford-Kapp is general manager of the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.)