Habitats see mixed bag in downturn

Local Habitats for Humanity are still building homes and helping low-income residents achieve the dream of homeownership in the recessionary summer of 2009, but it’s getting harder, say affiliate directors.

“It’s been challenging,´ said Candace Mayo, executive director of the Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity. “We are not in crisis mode by any means, but we’ve seen our donations go down. In good times, builders would give materials and services and that’s down. We’re still getting donations, but they’re not giving as much.”

“It’s absolutely slowed down our building,” adds Linda Akers, executive director of the Greeley Area Habitat for Humanity. “We have the land but we’re not able to build as many houses. I’d say we’re down about 50 percent – instead of doing eight to 10 houses a year, now we’re only doing four to five.”

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The Fort Collins Habitat recently marked a milestone, dedicating a completed home and breaking ground for its 45th home on the same day. At a July 26 ceremony in the Rigden Cottage subdivision in the Rigden Farm development in east Fort Collins, friends and family gathered to celebrate the completion of the home of Teresa Greene and her two grandchildren and mark the start of a home for Jennifer Garza and her two kids.

Fort Collins Habitat has recently focused its homebuilding in Rigden Farm, where six homes have been built and two more remain to be constructed. Those who purchase a home through the Fort Collins Habitat must save $1,000 for the down payment and agree to provide at least 300 hours of “sweat equity,” toiling alongside experienced work crews.

It’s a good deal for families who might otherwise never be able to own their own home. They pay zero-percent interest on their 30-year loans for homes that average about $185,000 to build. Especially with the economic downturn over the last couple years, there’s no shortage of people looking for the kind of help Habitat can offer.

Some downturn benefits

While the Fort Collins and Greeley organizations are feeling the economic pinch, Gwen Stephenson, executive director of the Loveland Habitat for Humanity, said the downturn has had some benefits, creating a buyer’s market for land, for example.

“The lots we just purchased were a fairly good value,” she said. “Our strategy is to purchase when the cost is down and that’s helped.”

Stephenson said the downturn has also produced a bounty of customers buying a variety of items – from building materials to used vehicles – from the Habitat’s thrift store, which pays most of the organization’s overhead and leaves donations for home financing.

“It really helps us to be self-sustaining, because when a person makes a donation it all goes 100 percent to Loveland Habitat, and our ReStore helps to pay the overhead.”

Stephenson admits the Loveland affiliate has an advantage over other Habitats in the region. Its ReStore location was purchased outright through a capital campaign and that’s saved a lot of money for continued home building.

“(The recession) has not slowed us down, mainly because we’re self-sustaining,” she said. “We’ve done very well the past year and we’re planning to increase our capacity to build nine more houses in 2010.”

This year, Loveland Habitat plans to complete seven homes, she noted.

Both Mayo and Akers are lamenting the loss this year of funding from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. CHFA announced in February that it would no longer be able to purchase mortgages from financing organizations like Habitat due to investment losses in the market meltdown.

“That’s huge, about 30 percent of our funding,” Akers said, adding that CFHA used to provide upfront cash that Habitats could use to help get projects started.

Akers said because of the funding gap, the Greeley Habitat is focusing this year on rehabilitating foreclosed homes and making them available for purchase by qualifying families.

Still, Akers said the Greeley affiliate is doing well in spite of the hard times.

“We’ve had no foreclosures and we have no debt and money in the bank,” she said. “We just have to get more creative, just like everyone else. That’s all there is to it.”