Homes for the hopeful

Eight Mental Health and Human Services (MHHS) club members at MHCC put on their work gear and braved the rain to help build local homes as a part of a Habitat for Humanity project.

“It’s muddy, but it’s fun!” club member Mary Jane Doran said of the Nov. 17 Habitat team effort.

Habitat for Humanity has been working in Portland for 31 years and has built more than 200 homes locally. Internationally, volunteers have built more than 500,000 homes.

Each home is adapted to fit the needs of the partner family, local architecture and local culture.

The 10 homes the MHCC club helped to build are at the corner of Southeast 106th Avenue and Stark Street and will consist of two triplexes and two duplexes. Ten families will move into the homes once they are completed within a year.

The club worked alongside one future “partner homeowner,” Luis. He was diagnosed with cancer, yet has canceled doctor’s appointments due to lack of money. “The bill is coming at home and I don’t have money to pay it,” he said.

Luis is living in a trailer park with his wife and two sons while his Habitat home is being built. However, his trailer is very cold and contains mold, which contributed to his cancer diagnosis, he said.

His four-day workweeks do not generate enough income to provide safe housing for his family and pay the bills, he said. His wife is unemployed and disabled.

Luis spends his Saturdays compiling his necessary partner hours to earn the new Habitat home. He hopes the finished house contains “a ramp for the wheelchair and no mold,” he said.

A native of Mexico, he moved to the U.S. in 1998. “It’s difficult here; in (Mexico) it’s worse,” he said.

The MHHS club chose to participate in this event to help address the immediate need for housing for families now in substandard housing.

Club President Ashley Bright said, “I am happy doing whatever is needed,” while lifting wood onto a stack nearly as tall as she.

The volunteers started their day with a briefing by Ev Hu and other Habitat employees. They then began moving lumber to allow heavy machinery to enter the homesite for construction.

Hu began volunteering in the mid-1990s and “got hooked,” she said. She has been working for Habitat for three years.

Bright is similarly enthused. “I like working and building and doing stuff with my hands,” she said. “It’s going for a good cause and helping people, which is something I’m also passionate about.”

Bright and the other Habitat volunteers smiled and joked as they worked, even dancing to the folk music being played.

Travelling to Mexico three times on mission trips and building a total of six houses, Bright has seen plenty of volunteer work. “It’s nothing like this, though,” she said as wood sheeting began to rise on the units later in the day.

Ashley Ermann, a Lewis and Clark College student and first-time Habitat volunteer, took her assigned trash duty in stride. “It’s not like (directly) building the house, but it’s something that definitely has to be done,” she said.

Another Habitat building project is at Southeast 171st Avenue and Division Street. When finished, the site will contain 45 homes. Some are already built and are occupied, while the entire project will take several years to complete.

Third-time Habitat volunteer Scott Neigeut reported that the Division Street site has more helpers, but “they’re equally as hectic” as the Stark Street project.

Soloman future partner homeowner at the Division site who was logging hours at the Stark Street work project, is eager to settle down.

His family—two children, his wife and mother—have been frequently moving, so he applied for a home in April. He hopes his three-bedroom home will be ready by March.

“We wanted a safe environment for our kids,” Soloman said. “I feel so happy. I can’t wait to get my home.”

For several MHHS club members, the Nov. 17 event was their first with Habitat. The club hopes more will follow.

“I love to give to the community,” said Doran, who will become club vice president in the winter term. “I really think this is a great way to be involved and help people cut down the cost of a house, so it’s affordable.”

To be eligible to purchase a Habitat for Humanity home, applicants must:

— Demonstrate the ability to pay by having a job.

— Possess good or improving credit.

— Apply and host a home visit.

— Commit 500 volunteer hours to Habitat for Humanity.