Dreams come true for 11 families in Habitat subdivision

When Storm Kimbrough and her 10-year-old twins moved into their new 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom home in West Chicago shortly before Christmas, it was a dream-come-true not only for the Kimbroughs, but also for legions of DuPage Habitat for Humanity volunteers and staff members.

They were the first family to move into the organization's 3.3-acre Pioneer Prairie subdivision which will eventually contain 11 single-family homes. Another family will soon move into the other home built last summer and fall and in April ground was broken on four additional homes to be built this year, according to Sarah Brachle, executive director of the DuPage franchise of the international ecumenical Christian organization.

In existence since 1995, this local chapter has built and remodeled numerous homes over the years, but this is the first time that they have attempted an entire subdivision of homes. Previously they had only attempted a grouping of four or five homes at a time.

"The primary reason that we are building a cluster of homes is the cost," explained Brachle. "Habitat can secure economies of scale by constructing homes of similar make in groups. If we were able to build as cost effectively in single-lot construction, we would be happy to pursue that course."

"Though cost is the main driver, the neighborhood does provide an opportunity for large groups of volunteers to work together during the building period and for families to support one another over the long-term," she added.

The Pioneer Prairie odyssey began in 2006 when Habitat signed a contract on the property.

"This land was listed through the Multiple Listing Service," Brachle recalled. "A trust was trying to sell it but it was not a good private sector fit because the cost of hooking into the city sewer was prohibitive. A builder would have had to build very big houses in order to get his money out and big houses weren't appropriate in this neighborhood."

Habitat, on the other hand, was able to get help from the federal government for those costs, which made the project feasible.

They got the necessary infrastructure funding in 2007, started raising funds for the construction of houses in 2008 and by the summer of 2009, the group was able to start construction on the first two homes.

"Habitat functions as a general contractor on the projects," Brachle explained. "We use volunteers for any task that doesn't require a license and we hired skilled workers where necessary."

For instance, excavation, plumbing and electrical work are always done by professionals. Roofing work is sometimes done by volunteers and sometimes done by professionals, depending upon the particular job, she said. The average cost of materials and professional services per home is $200,000.

It generally takes five or six months to build a new house with volunteers working on Thursdays and Saturdays and professionals performing their tasks on the remaining days.

Entire groups of people from schools, churches, corporations and other organizations volunteer to spend a day or two helping under the direction of a house leader and three to five crew leaders.

"They can be totally unskilled," Brachle explained. "We train them on site. Beforehand we just tell them where to be and what to wear."

"We actually have more volunteers than we can use so we have to give priority to donors, allowing them the first chance to work on site," she continued. "While we always need volunteers to help with our fundraisers and other behind the scenes work, when it comes to construction, we have more people volunteering than we can usually engage."

Rehabilitations of existing homes are also tackled on a regular basis by the group. Recently they have rehabbed several foreclosed homes in communities such as Addison, Villa Park and Glendale Heights, according to Brachle. This work is generally done during the winter.

"We can turn them around more quickly and they are generally very well-received by the community because we are taking something that has been an eyesore and fixing it up," she explained. "But a rehab is a 'cat in a bag'. You never know what you are getting once you open up the walls."

This year the DuPage Habitat group plans to build four new houses and rehab two others so that six needy families may move into homes of their own.

The sales prices of these homes are based on each family's income and no interest is charged on the mortgages, Brachle explained.

The application process for new homeowners is done on a rolling basis. They reach out to churches, social service providers and the county to find eligible families.

The application process is rigorous. Applicants must live or work in DuPage County, have a steady job, have decent credit and their debt must be in check. They must also be willing to donate 250 hours of labor, per adult in the household, to Habitat before they can be awarded a home.

"This basically translates to working on the site every Saturday for six months," Brachle said.

There are also in-home interviews, the submission of pay stubs, tax forms and other information and financial management classes. A small down payment is also required, as is about $2,000 in closing costs.

So, potential homeowners are definitely required to be invested in the process.

"The median income for a family of four in DuPage County is about $70,000. Most of our families are making between $40,000 and $50,000 for that family of four and most work as teachers, health care workers or are in the military," Brachle said.

You cannot buy much of a house in this area for $120,000 (your yearly income multiplied by three). That is why they need help.

"In 2009, 94 families attended DuPage Habitat application workshops," said Brachle. "Of those, 37 families applied for Habitat homeownership. Of those, eight families were chosen. Put another way, 9 percent of families who attended a workshop and/or 22 percent of families who applied were selected in 2009."

Those chosen must agree to never rent out the house and must pay their own insurance and property tax. They also get two mortgages - one to repay Habitat and a "soft" second mortgage that is due when they sell the house at market price. But Habitat reserves the "right of first refusal" to purchase the home back if the homeowner chooses to leave.

"Most of our homeowners are in their 30s or 40s and they have been working and saving to become homeowners, but have not been able to achieve that," Brachle explained. "Many have young children, but that is not required. About half are single parents and half are two-parent households. All must undergo a background check and a sex offender check.

"We can actually give neighbors more assurances than they could get with a normal sale," she said.

And since homeowners are required to take home repair and maintenance classes and must agree to maintain their homes, there are seldom complaints from neighbors after the sale.

"This was the ultimate move for me," explained Kimbrough, a tax information specialist. "It has grounded me and allowed me and my children to move forward."

The whole application and construction process took approximately a year and a half to complete during which time she and her twins were living in Wheaton. Kimbrough said she learned a little bit about siding, painting and all the other aspects of homeownership during the sweat equity portion which she feels will help her maintain the house in the years to come.

"And they gave me lots of literature that I can look back at if I didn't retain everything I learned," she added.

"There were lots of steps and they needed lots of information so I also had to be very organized," Kimbrough recalled. "But it was all worth it when they handed me those keys."

Construction Committee Co-Chair Art Roberts of Downers Grove, a volunteer, said he gets a lot of satisfaction from seeing deserving families get a house, particularly the children. Since 1995 the retired ComEd power plant employee has been devoting 20 hours per week to Habitat.

"I have seen a lot of families escape bad situations and get into better schools and better neighborhoods with the help of Habitat," he explained. "My payday is when we dedicate a house and hand the keys to that family. That makes all the hours of work worthwhile."