Habitat Volunteers Build a Home, Live in It

There’s a certain sort of construction project underway in Pacoima. One that isn’t powered by a corporation, but by the nonprofit ministry Habitat for Humanity. One that doesn’t pay its workers in currency, but with a home in the community he or she has spent 500 hours building.

Twenty miles north of Los Angeles is Pacoima, California — the site of a project that will give a three- or four-bedroom home to volunteers who have helped build it, according to Shelter. Though they don’t yet know which house will be theirs, the families moving into the community will have completed their down payment in the form of man power, and will receive a nonprofit, interest-free loan. In addition to the house, families receive access to health and dental care, as well as a free computer. A community garden provides them with fruits and vegetables.

“You bring a family in and give them an opportunity to change their lives, and it’s them as the catalyst,” Donna Deutchman, CEO of Habitat for Humanity San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley, told the site.

And working together to create a better future has undoubtedly enhanced their sense of selves. Jessica Woywode, a Community Development and Planning Associate for the organization, told Shelter that the community has seen significantly higher graduation rates, no divorces and zero teen pregnancies. Thirty-seven of the 61 Habitat homes in Pacoima are occupied, and 24 more houses will be completed in 2010.

The project will include the San Fernando/Santa Clarita Valley in the five percent of communities with more than 100 Habitat-built homes. It’s an honor and a privilege, and the community’s (future) residents are proud to have helped achieve it.

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