About : About Us

Our Mission

Putnam County Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit Christian housing ministry builds simple, decent and affordable homes in partnership with God and families in need. We believe that every man, woman, and child should have a simple, decent place to live in dignity and stability. We strive to rid Putnam County and world of substandard housing and homelessness. And we invite volunteers and partners of all backgrounds to join us in this work.

History

Serving Putnam County, since 1995, Putnam County Habitat for Humanity (PCHFH), an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, is an independent, locally run, nonprofit 501 (c)(3) organization. Habitat helps families of low incomes become homeowners by building and partnering in the creation of affordable housing. PCHFH also builds community partnerships that promote spiritual values and individual responsibility.
We have completed more than 50 homes in Putnam County, which has impacted close to 200 individual lives!

The Challenge

•  Even with the market slow-down, homeownership is still far out of reach for Habitat families. The median price of a Putnam County area existing single-family home at the end of 2008 was $138,000 . Habitat families cannot qualify for a mortgage that requires a 10-20% down payment, a 6% interest rate and a monthly payment of more than $900. They would have to earn close to $44,000 a year in order to purchase a home in our area, The majority of Habitat families earn less than $20,000
•  In Tennessee it takes an average hourly wage of at least $21.17 to afford a home or an hourly wage of $12.38 to rent according to the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. In our region, the median hourly wage for a home health aide is $8.70, an auto parts counter salesperson is $9.30, and a file clerk's median hourly wage is $8.80.                                                                                  •  The U.S. Census Bureau's 2007 American Community Survey data reveals that in Putnam County almost 40% of all renters and close to 20% of homeowners spend more than 30% of their income on housing.

Our Solution

•   We coordinate all aspects of Habitat home building in our local area -- fund raising, building site selection, partner family selection and     support, house construction and mortgage servicing.
•   We build entire communities in addition to traditional infill buildings. This is accomplished by constructing new housing, mainly on parcels of land that have been donated, acquired through government grant funding programs, or purchased at a discounted rate.
•   We partner with corporations, churches, individuals, foundations, faith and civic groups to provide the sponsor funding to cover the cost of construction materials to build each home.
•   We unite people of goodwill across race, ethnic, religious and geographic boundaries to build each home through their volunteer efforts.
•   We provide a "hand up" to our family partners as they work more than 400 hours of labor on the construction of their home, other Habitat homes, and in our ReStore. This is called "sweat equity". All homeowners must complete the sweat equity prior to moving into their home.
•   In addition to construction work, the partner families attend our mandatory homeowner education classes.  Our goal is to not just get the family into an affordable home, but to ensure their success homeowners, with our education program being a key to these results. And we recently added Kids Advantage for the children.

Families attend two courses:  Home Advantage.  This covers home maintenance, being a good neighbor, protecting your family, mortgage closings, importance of insurance, wills and making good decisions about their home.  This is an 18 week course that meets weekly for 1 ½ hours.  AND  Financial Advantage.  This covers mortgage financing, credit-worthiness, and household budgeting.  This is a 12 month course that meets as a group once a month for 2 hours and then families meet individually with a mentor one to two times a month.  We’ve recently added Our Kids Advantage courses for the children!

•   We serve families earning between 30-60% of the area median income by providing a 0% interest mortgage. The average monthly mortgage payment is $380. Their mortgage payments come back to PCHFH to help us continue building homes.
•   We ensure that families are accepted into the Habitat program based on their need, income, and their willingness to partner. Applicants go through a rigorous application process.
•   We rejoice as our Habitat homeowners' futures brighten due to a stabile, healthy environment that provides space to live, to grow and to dream.
•   We highlight the issue of affordable housing in our region, insisting that no one in our area should go to sleep at night without a decent roof over his or her head.