One local house that has sat empty the past few years is slated for an extreme makeover, as Habitat for Humanity prepares to renovate and sell it to another local family in need of a decent home.
Volunteers will soon start work on the property at 901 W. Washington St in Jefferson, a one-and-a-half story home built in 1947. Project planners say it will require significant repair and alteration before the new family can move in, but the home does have a warming character with great curb appeal.
The home was recently purchased from real estate developers in Minnesota who acquired it in a pool of 25 distressed properties from the federal Fannie Mae program during the depths of the financial crisis. Until Habitat officials contacted them, they had somewhat forgotten they even owned it, as the rest of the properties were all in Minnesota and had long since been renovated and sold. One of the principals of the company serves on his local Habitat for Humanity board and felt compelled to offer it to the Boone and Greene Counties Habitat affiliate for less than one-fourth of its appraised value.
In addition to a recent $20,000 State Housing Trust Fund grant awarded for renovation of the property, the local Habitat group will also use remaining dollars from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program awarded through city of Jefferson in 2013.
Selection of a partner family for this house is in final stages and will soon be announced. This family will contribute between 300 and 450 hours of sweat equity working alongside volunteers in the process of renovation, and will then pay for the home through a zero-interest mortgage. As payments are received, these dollars will be used by the local Habitat affiliate to fund additional home repair and rehab projects in Greene County.
Harry Ahrenholtz of Jefferson is president of Habitat for Humanity of Boone and Greene Counties, and a constant presence on project worksites. He said, “We went on a search for a home to rehab and were led to this one almost immediately. The challenge then became finding who the owner was and contacting them. It wasn’t easy, but once we did, things quickly fell into place and now we have what I would call the perfect home to renovate for a new partner family.”
With the recent completion of several Helping Hands home repair projects in partnership with local low-income homeowners, all efforts of the Habitat volunteers will now go into this house with plans to complete and hand it over to the new partner family in the summer of 2015.
Those wanting to volunteer on this renovation project are encouraged to contact their church or the Habitat for Humanity office at 515-432-1168.
Habitat for Humanity is a worldwide Christian housing ministry working to eliminate unhealthy, substandard living conditions through offering low-income families an opportunity for a safe, decent and affordable place to call home.
