Mountain Country drops Habitat affiliation

Mountain Country Habitat for Humanity, which provides affordable housing to low-income families in Stone and Taney counties, disaffiliated itself with Habitat for Humanity International Nov. 1 and has changed its name to Mountain Country Homes of Hope. According to Mountain Country Executive Director Susan Martin, the board made the decision because the international organization wanted to standardize its local affiliates.

“We want to maintain autonomy and address local needs. We don’t want to be standardized,” Martin said. “Structuring affiliates the same way just won’t work. What works for Kansas City and Springfield just doesn’t work for this area.”

For instance, in a highly-populated community, it might take just one church to sponsor a Habitat house. “It took us 17 churches to build a house in this area,” Martin said.

Habitat International also was to standardize the fiscal years of all its affiliates. Martin said the board of Mountain Country, with a fiscal year that runs November–October, would be required to go through the Internal Revenue Service to make that change.

The Mountain Country board also viewed the international organization as veering from its original mission by broadening its scope of work into other areas such as AIDS relief.

Contrary to public perception, the local Habitat receives no monies from the international organization, Martin said. Instead, funding comes from donations, grants and fund-raisers. She said Habitat International charges a 10.4 percent recovery fee from donations that are sent directly to it with the intention of being forwarded to each affiliate. Habitat International also requests an annual contribution of 10 percent of undesignated donations or a percentage of the cost of a house from each affiliate.

Martin said her organization’s relationship with the international Habitat has been a positive one, but “basically, we’re not broken, so don’t keep trying to fix us.” The local organization, founded in 1987, completed its 45th home in October and plans to build two more in 2007.

The next fund-raising event for Mountain Country Homes of Hope, to be held Feb. 24, will be an art auction at the Cobblestone meeting facility. Mountain Country Homes of Hope also will continue to raise money through aluminum can collections, and its Warehouse Store, located behind the Hollister police station.

Mountain Country Homes of Hope will begin taking applications for homes in February. Requirements to apply will not change. For more information on partnering, volunteering or making donations to Mountain Country Homes of Hope, visit www.mchh.net or call (417) 335-2015.