Behind the Scenes:
Family Selection Process Prepares for Homeownership

by Rebekah Daniel

	Kathy Cartwright moved with her family into her Habitat house in LaGrange, Ga., in 2003.

On a hot, rainy day last year in LaGrange, Ga., in the midst of power saws and hammers, Habitat homeowner Kathy Cartwright put down her tools and remembered the day she learned she had been selected for Habitat's homeownership program.

"I just cried like a baby," she said softly.

In the struggle for decent, affordable housing, the moment a family is selected to own a Habitat house becomes a treasured memory for many Habitat families. It is the point at which things begin to turn around, the long-awaited break in the cycle of just getting by. It is an opportunity many people long for.

Yet, not everyone who applies for a Habitat house is accepted into the program. And those who are accepted are not easily classified by traditional demographic classifications of race, religion, language, household size or disability status.

They even work in a wide range of positions, according to Kelly Willoughby, executive director of Kaw Valley HFH in Kansas City, Kan. "Our homebuyers are coming from big chain department stores," she says. "They work for the school system, driving buses. We have LPNs and nursing aides who work in nursing homes."

Three--and only three--selection criteria unite Habitat homeowners all over the world.

First, the family must have a need for decent, affordable housing that cannot be met through traditional means. In some areas, the housing itself is substandard and the homeowner cannot afford the cost of improvements; in other places, the housing quality is acceptable but families must double up to pay the rent. For example, in Boston, one of the United States' most expensive housing markets, the Fair Market Rent for an average one-bedroom apartment is more than $1,100 per month, far out of reach for someone earning the state minimum wage of $6.75 per hour.

Second, the family must be able to repay a zero-interest mortgage loan. Depending on the cost of the house and the family's income, many affiliates adjust the length of the loan so the mortgage, insurance and taxes do not exceed 30 percent of the homeowner's income.

The third selection criterion, and a vital component of Habitat's method, is a willingness to partner with the affiliate. Habitat homeowners are not passive recipients of a give-away program; rather, they invest hundreds of hours of time and energy in learning to budget, build and maintain their houses.

"One of the most important partnerships we have in Habitat for Humanity is with homeowner families," says Millard Fuller, founder and president of Habitat for Humanity. "These folks are not our customers, clients, patients, or people who are merely objects of concern for those who are more fortunate. Rather, these people are our partners, and we take that partnership very, very seriously."

With concerns ranging from income verification to home visits, family selection is a detail-oriented process, but with more than 150,000 families in Habitat houses, the process has been proven to work. And despite the details, the goal remains simple: to offer hope, opportunity and love to families in need.