Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity
2005-2006 was another good year for the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, says Lance Henning, executive director.
“By the end of the year, we will have moved 13 families to home ownership,” says Henning. “That’s up 30 per cent from last year. And last year was up 40 percent from the year before that.”
The Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, an ecumenical Christian organization that provides home ownership opportunities for qualified low-income families, had a lot of help in getting the families into their own homes.
“The ability to work with the volunteers from the community” has been extremely important to the agency, he says. “We’ll have 6,000 volunteers this year. One month alone we had 1,000. Both of those are record numbers.”
Families who move in to a Habitat home are assisted in acquiring and renovating or building a house with donations of money, time, materials and volunteers. The agency acts as a mortgage banker for the families who are purchasing the homes on a 20-year, no-interest loan that also helps make the units affordable to low-income families.
In 2005, only 11 new single-family homes sold for less than $100,000in Polk County. Ten of those were built by Grater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity. Those homes gave 31 children and their parents a chance for a better life in the years ahead. In 2006, as Habitat for Humanity celebrated its 20th year in Des Moines, 40 children were given the gift of a brighter future in their new houses.
In the last year, Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity has served:
83 Households (19 of these are new households)
126 Adults (30 are new)
279 Children (68 are new)
Family incomes: Households
17 < 30% MFI ($0-$20,450)
66 31-50% MFI (20,451-$34,050)
0 51-80% MFI (34,051-$54,500)
Sources of Income: Households
70 Employment
13 Soc Sec/SSI/SSDI
0 Public Assistance
Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity
2341 2nd Avenue
PO Box 716Des Moines, IA 50303
Phone: 515.471.8686Fax: 284.5559
info@gdmhabitat.org
www.gdmhabitat.org