Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity gathered staff, volunteers and Habitat homeowners Saturday for a luncheon at First United Methodist Church to celebrate 30 years of service.
Since 1986, the Starkville branch of the international nonprofit organization has built more than 60 homes for qualifying low-income residents. The organization provides 20-year, interest-free mortgages to those residents, helping them to become homeowners.
A founding member of Starkville Habitat and its longest serving board member, Pinks Dudley shared memories of when the efforts of a few like-minded individuals got the program off the ground.
“Someone had done a little checking on how many people were in inadequate housing in Oktibbeha County, and it was quite a number,” Dudley said.
Dudley said prior to becoming Habitat homeowners, many program participants live in poor conditions in areas with high crime rates. She said the program is an opportunity for participants to stop their day-to-day struggle to stay afloat and build a future for themselves and their families.
“They’ve been given a helping hand and they’ve been giving some validation that says, ‘We know that you’re people who want to get ahead, and this is one way we can help you do that,'” Dudley said.
Joel Downey, executive director for Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity, said Habitat homes impact participants’ lives in ways other social services cannot. He said while government assistance programs help with immediate needs, Habitat has a long lasting impact.
“It’s well established that home ownership is the basis of financial security in America,” Downey said. “Nobody really has financial security that does not own something. And housing is the largest expense that you have, so it makes sense to turn that expense into an investment rather than just paying rent.”
All applicants go through a selection process, Downey said, and recipients must have the means to pay the mortgage, they must put at least 300 “sweat equity” hours into building the home and they must agree to complete three self-improvement classes — one of which must focus on financial literacy.
In November 1991, the Starkville program completed its fourth home construction. Anne D. Kennard said when her family of five received the keys to that Habitat home, their Oktibbeha County trailer was in the late stages of decay. She said the new house signified not only an improvement in conditions but better educational opportunities for her children.
“To me, it was a blessing because it gave me a chance to give my children a good place to be raised in,” Kennard said.
Downey said the program has grown greatly from its handful of founding volunteers, and the 61st house was built with the help of dozens of student, faculty and staff volunteers from Mississippi State’s Maroon Edition program. He said construction on the Habitat home on Owens Lane will be completed in November.
“We hope to finish it before Thanksgiving,” Downey said. “Hopefully [the family] will be having Thanksgiving dinner there.”
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