Local Habitat for Humanity hopes cans will build new home

Springfield's Habitat for Humanity affiliate is taking a can-do attitude toward the opportunity to get a $50,000 grant to build a new home for a local family.

Since July 1, the local organization has been in the running against 14 other Habitat for Humanity affiliates to get the grant via the Aluminum Cans Build Habitat For Humanity Homes program, a national partnership between Habitat for Humanity International and the Aluminum Association.

The recipient of the grant will be the affiliate that collects the most aluminum cans by Dec. 31.

"We have over 100 places where there are bins set up right now churches, businesses, the federal medical prison, Cox South and North, Walnut Lawn, St. John's. We've pretty much hit up everybody we can, or they've come to us," said Kimberly White, recycling coordinator for the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, located at 4535 W. Chestnut Expwy.

White said the Habitat for Humanity ReStore worked to get the local affiliate an initial $5,000 grant that funded publicity and the construction of the "can cottages," where collected cans can be dropped off.

In addition to the can cottage at the ReStore, the K-Mart on South Campbell Avenue and Campbell United Methodist Church, as well as one at Commercial Metals, 634 E. Phelps St., where the cans are turned in for processing.

Dollars, cents and cans

White said the local affiliate has collected about 4,000 pounds of cans so far, but she doesn't know how that compares to the amounts collected by the other competing affiliates.

White added that it takes 36 aluminum cans to make a pound, and the price per pound fluctuates between 38 cents and 40 cents.

With each can worth about a penny, and with the average cost of a three-bedroom Habitat for Humanity House at $46,000, White said it would take 4.6 million cans to pay for a home.

Building costs

Donna Jones, executive director of the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate, said the organization makes projections each year for the number of homes it will build. However, she noted that that number ultimately is determined by the amount of funding that comes in.

Jones said the organization expects to have finished seven homes by the end of 2002. Right now, Habitat is still building in its McAl Subdivision.

Jones said the McAl Subdivision has a total of 51 lots. If Habitat gets to build the seven planned homes this year, it would bring the total number of homes in the subdivision to 33.

"We're building on faith, but it would be nice to have some funds to help, as well," Jones said.

Jones said the local Habitat's projections are to build nine new homes in 2003, so the organization is out in the community looking for the money to pay for those homes. If the local affiliate gets the $50,000 grant, that will be one home that's taken care of in terms of funding, she said.

Building material for the homes is paid for by different sources in the community.

"About 60 percent of our sponsors are churches, and probably about 35 percent are corporations, businesses. The other percentage comes from grants. The Musgrave Foundation has provided a grant every other year for us and has funded a house. And we do get some United Way funds, so when we look at the percentages, that's how we break out," Jones said.

"One of our corporate sponsors next year will be Bank of America. They've committed to building a home for us. They're building them all over the country, and we got one of the ones in Missouri," she said.

Participating families

Jones said there isn't a waiting list for Habitat Houses and in fact, she said, it's a challenge to find families to participate in the program.

"I think it's a whole combination of, number one, it seems too good to be true and the second piece is (that) we do have a lot of hoops that they have to jump through," Jones said.

"They have to put in sweat equity, it takes about a year, maybe a little bit longer from start to finish."

Sweat equity often is paid when families spend time working on the construction of their homes, Jones said, but she added that it also can be paid by volunteering in the Habitat office or at the ReStore.

Last year, Jones said, the organization received about 800 telephone calls from people who were interested in participating in the program, but few of those followed through.

The selection of families for Habitat for Humanity homes is based on need, ability to pay and willingness to partner.

"Need has to fit within income guidelines of being 25 (percent) to 50 percent of the median income of an area, and that's based on family size," Jones said. If a family is paying too much for utilities in relation to its gross income in its present dwelling, that can be defined as need, she said. Need also can come from families living in overcrowded conditions, dangerous neighborhoods or dilapidated housing.

Jones said Habitat for Humanity does look at credit reports to determine a family's ability to pay.

"Most all of our families come with some problems on their credit reports, and some with more than others. But what we do is look at some source of income that's steady and legal and then we look for some kind of hope. Are they trying to pay back some of these bills? Does it look like their income has been stable for awhile, and is possibly continuing at least two years or more?" Jones said.

Typically the homes come with interest-free loans for 15 to 20 years, and payments are no more than 25 percent of gross income.

All about recycling'

Participating in the can competition is a natural fit for the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, which raises money for homes by selling donated remodeling and building materials.

"We are all about recycling. We recycle aluminum windows and all of that as it is, and mixed metals, and everything we take in here we try to recycle," White said, either by selling it for re-use or by sending it to recycling centers. "Also, it's a new way to get money for the homes," she said.

Even if the local affiliate doesn't win the contest for the grant, it will get to keep the money raised by the collected cans to use toward new Habitat homes

"So far, we've raised about $1,500," White said.