About Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity
Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity does not build fancy houses. We build affordable homes – homes that provide much more than shelter. Our homes give low-income families the chance to experience the pride, dignity, and self-sufficiency of homeownership.
Habitat families truly own their homes and are required to make a significant investment in order to become homeowners. Families not only agree to pay back their zero interest, 30-year mortgage, they also save money and contribute a down-payment and invest 350 - 450 hours of sweat equity into the construction of their own home, the construction of another home, or the execution of administrative tasks at the Habitat office.
Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity truly provides a hand-up. Families are empowered to purchase a home and to remain self-sufficient in that home for years to come.
Habitat’s relationship with each family extends far beyond the doorstep of their new home. The 30-year mortgage financed by Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity evolves into a 30-year relationship. Habitat works with each family to ensure that they make their monthly payment – and provides counsel and assistance when they cannot. Before and during the homebuilding process, families receive financial counseling; help with debt-consolidation, and classes on yard and home maintenance.
Facts:
· Through Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity, the Colorado Springs community has built brand-new homes for over 90 deserving families.
· Families who cannot qualify for traditional mortgages receive zero percent, 30-year loans on homes built just for them.
· Each Habitat family invests 350 - 450 hours of sweat equity valued at $6,570 - $8,447.
· Habitat families work hard for the changes they want to make in their own lives.
· Habitat homeowners are empowered to become self-sufficient. In fact, since moving into their new home, 53 percent have actually increased their household income.
· After participating in Habitat’s financial counseling programs, 47 percent of Habitat homeowners have reduced their existing debt by 30 percent or more.
Who Needs Habitat for Humanity
Colorado faces a severe shortage of safe, decent, affordable housing. The people most affected by this shortage are low and moderate-income workers, the disabled, elderly, and families with children. In fact, 40 percent of renters and 20 percent of homeowners are forced to pay more than they can afford for housing – simply because housing they can afford does not exist in today’s market.
The federal standard for housing expenses is 30 percent of a family’s gross household income. Many families are forced to spend 50 percent or more of their income on housing, leaving little income for other basic necessities. Other families choose to live in sub-standard facilities, cramming five or more people into one-bedroom apartments or living with mold, decay, and infestation. Struggling under the burden of housing costs, families find themselves trapped in a cycle of poverty.
Poverty is a legacy; a painful tradition that is difficult to break. Children follow in their parents’ footsteps, often seeking nothing more than what their mothers and fathers modeled for them. At the end of this path, they find themselves living in another cramped apartment with stacks of unpaid bills piling up on the kitchen table.
Facts:
· Habitat families are hard-working and have an income, but their income is too low to qualify for a mortgage under traditional means.
· Habitat families make 25% – 50% of the area’s median income.
· The cost of housing is rising faster than the median income. In fact, since 1999, the cost of building a home has increased by 79.3 percent while the median household income has only risen by 13.7 percent.
How are lives changed?
Without the assistance of Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity, hard-working, low-income families would remain instable and in constant transition. Instead, by accomplishing homeownerships, these families gain the footing to begin moving forward.
For caregivers, homeownership brings the peace of mind to concentrate at work and the financial stability to live within your budget. Homeownership means taking pride in providing a safe place for your family to flourish.
For children, homeownership brings the confidence to make friends at school, knowing there won’t be another move. Homeownership means a place to study and a yard to play in. Homeownership means achieving better grades and a high school diploma.
Above all, by achieving homeownership, caregivers end the cycle of poverty for their families. Instead of utilizing public resources as they have in the past, Habitat homeowners instantly become resources. Through the process, they have learned the value of hard work and the meaning of contributing to one’s community. Habitat homeowners work to maintain the beauty of their neighborhood and participate as members of neighborhood watch and HOA boards – often revitalizing areas that were once run-down and unkempt.
Facts:
· The average Habitat homeowner pays $230 less each month to their housing payment than when they were renters.
· Habitat homeowners obtain financial stability because their mortgage payment will not fluctuate like their rent payments did.
· The high school graduation rate of the children of homeowners is 25 percent higher than that of the children of renters. In fact, 46 percent of Habitat homeowners believe that their children’s educational opportunities are greater since moving into their Habitat home and 21 percent report that their children’s grades have actually improved.
· Children of homeowners are 116 percent more likely to graduate from college and 78 percent of Habitat homeowners report that they are better able to save for their children’s higher education since moving into their home.
· Habitat homeowners are proud of what they have – they have worked hard to own their home and find a great deal of dignity in that fact.
· 98 percent of Habitat homeowners stay in their homes and never sell – they are reaping the benefits of homeownership, not monetary gain.
Get involved with Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity
When you donate to Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity, your contribution produces tangible results. Your dollars build a home, one nail, one 2x4, one shingle at a time. From the moment the first shovel of dirt is turned on an empty lot, your donation is changing someone’s life.
By contributing to Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity, you become a part of a unique community. You join in partnership with other Colorado Springs residents to surround low-income families with support and encouragement as they take steps toward homeownership. As a member of this community, you don’t just build a house for a family; you provide them with a new life.
Your gift not only ensures that a family receives a home this year, but also contributes toward future builds. Habitat uses the mortgage payments from families receiving homes today as revolving funds for building homes tomorrow. By placing a family in a Habitat home this year, you empower them to contribute towards the provision of future Habitat homes.
Facts:
· Your donation will result in a finished product – a brand new, affordable home for a Colorado Springs family.
· $745 or $62 per month provides the appliances for a Habitat home
· $1,450 or $120 per month will provide the roofing materials for one new Habitat home
· $1,150 or $95 per month provides the paint and supplies to finish the interior of a Habitat home.
· $1,800 or $150 per month buys the concrete to build a driveway and sidewalks for bikes and skateboards.
· $2,000 or $165 per month completes the landscaping for one home, providing green grass to cushion cartwheels.
What is next for Pikes Peak Habitat for Humanity?
About Woodmen Vistas
On May 30th, 2008, we turned the first shovel of dirt at Woodmen Vistas, our largest development to date! Woodmen Visitas, located near Woodmen Road and Powers Blvd., is a mixed-income development and over the next four years, this site will become home to 36 Habitat families.
Through this project, 36 Habitat families will leave poverty housing and come home to empowerment, self-sufficiency, and community. Over 50 caregivers will turn the keys on their new home, knowing that they will now provide their families with the life they have always dreamed of. These families will know what it is like to have hope for the future. Many will experience this hope for the very first time.
The number of children that will live in these homes is enough to fill five classrooms. Imagine, five classrooms full of healthy, thriving children who no longer have to live in poverty housing. Five classrooms full of children who will not become trapped in the cycle of poverty.
In addition to 36 Habitat homes, the Rocky Mountain Community Land Trust, our partner in the development will build 31 homes. Please visit www.rmclt.org for more information. Together, the community of Colorado Springs will develop the Woodmen Vistas neighborhood. People from across our city will join together to help families achieve homeownership, partnering for a healthier community.
Facts:
· Each Woodmen Vistas home will be completed in approximately six months
· Between seven and ten homes will be completed each year.
· Each Woodmen Vistas home will cost approximately $105,000 to build.
· Children living in Woodmen Vistas will benefit from a District 20 education.
· Habitat will rely on approximately 129,600 community volunteers who will donate 518,400 hours to complete this project.