Habitat for Humanity to build AV home

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press March 1, 2001.

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Representatives from Habitat for Humanity were in Palmdale on Wednesday to rally support for the construction of homes for three needy families.

The homes would be built with donations and volunteer labor for three Palmdale families, who would be selected by a committee of Valley residents, said Terry-Lei Robertson, executive director of the San Fernando/Santa Clarita/Antelope Valley chapter of the international organization.

The homes would be built on three empty lots that are to be acquired with housing funds from the city of Palmdale's Community Redevelopment Agency, said Mike Miller, Palmdale's housing coordinator.

City officials hope the effort will lead to the construction of other new, affordable homes on more than 30 vacant lots in an older neighborhood bounded by Avenue Q, Palmdale Boulevard, Division Street and Fifth Street East, Miller said.

The new homes, as well as the city-funded improvements, are intended to increase pride of ownership as well as property values in affected neighborhoods, he said.

According to Robertson, the local involvement by Habitat for Humanity was spurred primarily by Lockheed Martin, which already has employees engaged in volunteer home-building efforts in Marietta, Ga., and Forth Worth, Texas.

Lockheed Martin has a nonprofit arm that is independent of the company's aerospace divisions, said Tony Olsen, chairman of the board of the Lockheed Martin Leadership Association.

That association is chartered to improve the management skills of corporate employees. In doing so, the association organizes efforts through which company employees voluntarily perform community services "that reflect positively on our company," Olsen said.

Workers at the company's plants in Georgia and Texas have embraced Habitat for Humanity projects in their home cities, "So it became an obvious thing for us to pursue it" in Palmdale, Olsen said.

The next step was to arrange Wednesday's meeting to find out how much money and how many people will be required to make the project a reality, he said.

Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 100,000 homes for needy families in more than 60 countries, including 30,000 homes in the United States, Robertson said.

Since 1990, it has built 46 in the San Fernando Valley and is constructing its second in Santa Clarita, she said. The goal is to build at least one home in Palmdale this year and two more next year.

The three homes would be built on three vacant lots on the west side of Fourth Street East south of Avenue Q-3. Each three-bedroom home would provide 1,758 square feet of living space.

Construction of each home would be realized by raising about $67,000 in donations, which would be matched by $70,000 in redevelopment funds.

The donations would pay for the materials needed for construction, and those materials would be turned into a home by volunteers. The redevelopment money would pay for the land and its preparation, the concrete work required and any permits and fees required.

"It works different in each place," Robertson said. But each effort is based on grass-roots involvement by the community affected.

Once in place, "We want this to be long-term," she said. "We see an opportunity to serve people that need housing."

The organization's funding typically comes from many sources, including corporate sponsors, private foundations, arrangements like the one with Palmdale and fund-raising events, plus firms that donate materials instead of cash.

Robertson said Wednesday's meeting was conducted for multiple purposes - one of which was to generate interest among the people who typically provide the greatest support for such efforts: local businesses and church leaders.

Another goal was to spur the interest of the construction contractors who might be willing not only to help with free materials and free labor but to build other new homes alongside those erected by Habitat for Humanity, Miller said.

About 50 people were at Wednesday's meeting, including ministers, business owners, bankers and construction contractors.

In coming months, Robertson will be setting up the Antelope Valley Community Council Committee, a group of 10 to 15 people who will oversee this and future Habitat for Humanity home-construction projects in Palmdale.

The parent committee will spawn committees charged with raising funds, overseeing construction, spurring community interest, screening needy families, managing money and enlisting volunteers.

Between 25 and 50 families with dependent children are expected to apply for each home, but none will get them for free, Robertson said.

The family selected must have the financial wherewithal to pay housing costs of roughly $500 a month; family members must be willing to work about 500 hours on their own house or that of another being built by Habitat for Humanity; and they must truly be in need of better living quarters, she said.

All financing is arranged by Habitat for Humanity, Robertson added.

"The mission of `Habitat' is to eliminate substandard and poverty housing, including homeless conditions," Robertson said. "We focus on families in need - families that are living either in slum conditions where a slumlord is taking advantage of them or because of their financial constraints, they cannot change their situation."

Past families aided by the organization had been paying twice as much as the cost of a Habitat home for unheated, unsafe garages, while others were living in abandoned school buses or pickup campers because they were unable to find affordable housing, she said.

While that may not be the condition of families in Palmdale, some are being preyed upon by landlords who charge high fees for dilapidated properties, she said.

With the help of Habitat for Humanity, "We hope that after about two years of spending time in this neighborhood, it's going to be a completely different place," Miller said.

"Right now, people tend to drive past this neighborhood and even drive around it - they really don't want to drive through it. What we're hoping is that people will enjoy driving through and living in this neighborhood."

The work in Palmdale will mark the Habitat for Humanity's first effort in the Antelope Valley, Robertson said.