Habitat for Humanity homes rise in Oakley

June 11, 2004

Oakley will welcome six new families to its community in a couple of the months with a little help from their friends. They are part of a Habitat for Humanity project that includes six houses being built on Norcross Lane and Amador Avenue.

This is the first time I have had a chance to see a Habitat for Humanity project in action and it has been a real eye-opener to how many people are dedicated to helping low-income families. This small project is being sponsored by several different organizations and seems to be running very efficiently with so many people involved.

This past weekend, as part of the city's campaign for "Affordable Housing Week," City Council members Pat Anderson, Brad Nix and Kevin Romick visited the site in order to join the many volunteers on hand to help in the efforts.

Oakley City Manager Mike Oliver said, "The city of Oakley recognizes the challenges of homeownership in today's economy and is pleased to offer its support to the Habitat for Humanity Project." He added that he was proud to see Oakley and LP2A employees, along with KB Home employees participating.

The city contracts with LP2A of Pleasanton to provide building inspection, public works inspection and engineering services. Together with LP2A, the city's redevelopment agency has already provided $150,000 in permit fees and assistance to the Oakley Habitat for Humanity project.

The way Habitat for Humanity works is that organizations sponsor the building of the home. For example, KB Home is the developer sponsor of this project. KB supplies builders and a foreman to the project to help keep the project running smoothly. Then the group hires subcontractors, who usually donate their time to putting in things like plumbing, windows, flooring, things like that.

Then there are the members of the community who come out and volunteer to help build the homes. They include residents and volunteers from a number of local employers, including the city of Oakley. Of course, the most important volunteers are the future homeowners who spend time where they can building their own homes.

Most of the volunteer time happens on the weekends when people can work on their off hours. During the week a little work is done on the projects, usually by subcontractors who are paid by their companies, but those companies will generally donate the labor costs as part of a sponsorship.

While KB Home and LP2A are listed as the major contributors of this project, other organizations have personally helped the families to afford the houses, as well. For this project they include the Joan of Arc Church, Saint Anne's Church andY&H Soda Foundation.

"We at LP2A feel that the city of Oakley, KB Home and Mt. Diablo Habitat for Humanity are a family working together to help new families in the city of Oakley realize their dream of home ownership. What a blessing we all receive" said LP2A Principal Ken Petersen.

KB Home is also providing its support and service to the project. Drew Kusnick, President of KB Home, South Bay, explained, "KB Home believes in giving back to the communities in which we build. We are very gratified and excited to have the opportunity to sponsor, as well as participate, in the building of the Habitat for Humanity's Norcross Lane homes in Oakley."

The families don't get the homes for free, as some people assume. Besides helping to build their own homes they are also helped by the developers selling the homes at cost, which is determined based on cost of building supplies and subcontractors who are not donating their time. Then Habitat for Humanity will sell the completed houses at no profit to pre-selected families and offer no-interest mortgages, typically over a 20- or 30-year period.

The families for all six of the homes under construction have already been selected. Families are selected based on three primary criteria: the severity of their present housing conditions, their willingness to partner with Habitat and help themselves, and their ability to make the monthly mortgage payments.

For more information on Mt. Diablo Habitat for Humanity, or how to volunteer at the Oakley site, please call 925-288-0112.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

Distributed by the Contra Costa Times

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