FAITHFUL OBSERVATIONS

Our visit this week is with James Casper, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho. Many don’t know the history of Habitat and that its stated mission is “Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.” Their principles include demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ and promoting dignity and hope. I had a fascinating conversation with James about Habitat and learned a lot.

James, when and how did Habitat get started?

It started in Americus, Ga., with the building of a basic block house for a poor, sharecropping family living in a tarpaper shack in 1942. This provided a family with indoor plumbing, heating system and modern kitchen. This work continued and in 1973 Habitat was taken to Zaire. We work in 1,400 communities in the U.S. and in 70 countries worldwide. We have helped 13 million people achieve strength, independence and stability through safe, decent and affordable shelter.

What is your background and when did you start with Habitat?

I had my own construction company and had obtained my degree and a Master’s in Public Administration and had a desire to be working in an area of helping others. I started in this position nearly two years ago.

We see all types of apartments being built and even low-income apartments. Why is owning a home important to families?

That is an excellent question. There have been many studies about what owning a home does for families and we see better home environments, fewer behavior problems in children, more stable families and even higher test scores for children. When you think about it, home ownership is a desire most families strive for and it has become more difficult as time goes on.

How do you choose your families and what do they have to do to qualify?

They have to have relatively good credit history, no bankruptcy for the last two years and a stable environment of work and income. We require each adult in the family to contribute 300 hours of service and at least 100 hours on building the house. The last house we built they provided over 1,000 hours of service. We also assign a family partner to each family that is accepted. They have to take classes on budgeting and financial planning along with learning basic skills of home maintenance. The process means that an applicant will spend about one to two years to get into a house.

What is the financial commitment to purchase a house?

We require no money as a down payment and provide a no-interest loan. Our goal is to build a house for about $120,000. With taxes, insurance and payment we can keep the payment to an affordable amount. Our homes are basic and are either generally two or three bedrooms and range from 900 to 1,100 square feet.

Growing up in the ’50s I remember that most kids grew up in a home of about 1,000 square feet but that isn’t typical today. Even at that size of house you must have challenges building at that cost?

It is getting harder to accomplish this and especially with land costs. We used to be able to find lots for as little as $10,000 and certainly under $20,000 but those are few and far between. We build all over Kootenai County and are always looking and sometimes we have generous people who will sell below current market conditions. We might also buy houses that we can renovate and sell or even help low-income individuals who need assistance to stay in their existing home if it needs basic repairs.

The Big Question: Where do you receive your funding for building?

As people are paying off their mortgage that goes back into more housing, we receive donations from the community, some private grant funds targeted toward affordable housing, and a big part of our income is our “ReStore” which is a kind of thrift store of building supplies. We not only have building materials of all kinds but also appliances, furniture and some things that are unexpected. We invite people to shop and donate. In fact, if people are replacing windows or cabinets we will come over and help pick up what they are taking out and recycle those items to someone else. We tithe from our donations to the national headquarters and that goes to fund houses around the world. We estimate that our tithes from here have built 150 houses in other countries.

We also have businesses and organizations sponsor a house and part of the cost, and they come alongside to do a significant amount of the work. We have been blessed with many groups coming together to lend a hand or even take on an entire house cost.

This is not a small operation. How many employees do you have?

We usually have around 15 paid staff between the ReStore, construction, and administration but more than 40 regular volunteers and we are always open to more people to assist at our ReStore or in construction. Our motto for all of us is to “put good thoughts into action.” We have had to add staff to handle some of the new regulations that came down with finance reform and the Dodd-Frank Bill. Since we lend money for mortgages we are under all of those regulations and even though Habitat International sought an exemption for all U.S. affiliates, it was denied. We join all of the banks and lenders in trying to comply.

We have a great team and enjoy the people we are able to put into a home.

How can people assist in your work?

We are always looking for volunteers at ReStore, which is located at 176 W. Wyoming next to Ziggy’s and of course donations to the store can be made there also. Any donations can be made to Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho at our address in Hayden or call us at 208-762-4663 with questions. We also welcome people to stop by the store to see if we can assist with your projects.