PORT TOWNSEND — Habitat for Humanity, which seeks to build low-cost houses that bring the dream of home ownership to those who cannot afford it, is increasing its profile in East Jefferson County.
“We price the houses at an affordable level and structure the mortgages so people can pay them with what they are making,” said Jamie Maciejewski, the local chapter’s executive director.
Habitat for Humanity is a private organization with 1,700 local chapters throughout the United States that construct about 600 houses each year with the use of donated materials and labor.
This labor, often characterized as “sweat equity,” carries forward from one house to the next, Maciejewski told the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce’s weekly luncheon meeting on Monday.
400 hours required
Someone accepted into the Habitat program is required to work 400 hours, which often begins on someone else’s home.
In turn, the next group works on building the original participant’s home.
Maciejewski estimated that about 1,000 homes in East Jefferson County qualify as substandard, which means they lack electricity, plumbing or heat.
If someone in a substandard dwelling wants Habitat’s help, they won’t get it right away. Applications for the program won’t be accepted until summer 2011.
“We don’t offer a quick fix,” Maciejewski said, “but we are looking for ways to speed it up.”
This home revitalization program is common in the inner cities, and this is the first time it has been established in a rural area, according to Maciejewski.
With the help of a VISTA volunteer, Habitat is preparing an outreach program where it will visit parts of the Brinnon-Quilcene area and find out how to meet the community’s housing needs.
“While we’ve build homes in Port Townsend and Port Hadlock, we want to get out into other parts of the county where there is a tremendous need,” Maciejewski said.
She is also attempting to raise money for a matching funds grant, needing about $60,000 to make the match.
She is soliciting donations but has also come up with a different twist.
Few thousand dollars
Those people who have a few thousand dollars in low-yield CDs can lend this money to Habitat and get a guaranteed 1 to 3 percent interest in a two-to four year-commitment, Maciejewski said.
“We can get people a better rate than they get at the bank, but it will be harder to get the money out,” she said.
“But we can offer this as a secured loan.”
Maciejewski, who has headed the local Habitat operation for three years, has raised the visibility of the organization both within and outside of the area.
She was recently selected as one of 150 nonprofit executives from around the world to participate in this year’s Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management course conducted by Harvard Business School’s Social Enterprise Initiative, and attended the event in July.
She addressed the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce in an attempt to stimulate interest in the program.
“Children do better in school when the family owns its home,” she said.
“There is a higher graduation rate, and they feel better about themselves.”
For more information phone 360-379-2827 or go to www.habitatejc.com.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
