Habitat for Humanity, City of Madera plan to build 5 homes in 6 months
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune
Local dignitaries and community partners gather to break ground Wednesday for Habitat for Humanity Greater Fresno Area Acts of Kindness projects to build five new homes in six months.
Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Fresno Area (Habitat), in partnership with the City of Madera, Cal Viva Health, Noble Credit Union, and Suncrest Bank, officially broke ground Wednesday on the construction of five homes in the City of Madera.
The $1.2 million project will be Habitat’s first time building in Madera. The Washington and Malone Development will consist of three- and four-bedroom homes, with square footage ranging from 1369 to 1515 square feet. The ground breaking also opens the application period for local residents to apply for Habitat’s Affordable Homeownership Program.
In addition to the ground-breaking, CalViva Health formally announced a $50,000 donation to launch Habitat’s Acts of Kindness Program in Madera. This program will offer low-income homeowners the opportunity to access a program designed to help with deferred maintenance projects at no cost to them, but residents must apply and demonstrate a need (apply at http://habitatfresno.org/, or call 237-4102). The overall goal of the program is to preserve quality housing, help with deferred maintenance, and to help protect the integrity of the neighborhood.
None of this would even be possible without a donation of land from the City of Madera, the construction financing from Suncrest Bank, and Noble Credit Union investment of $2.5 million over the next 18 months to offer Habitat Partner families a below-market rate home loan, keeping the monthly mortgage payment affordable, and their partnership with us on a down payment assistance program through the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. This program provides Habitat families $15,000 of down payment assistance through their sweat equity of building their own houses. Each family is required to perform at least 500 hours of work on their home before it is dedicated and to receive these funds.
Habitat for Humanity homes are built with volunteer labor, donated time, and the generous support of many home sponsors. Each home is sold at no profit and with a low-interest mortgage loan through Habitat’s Affordable Home Loan Program to local families who otherwise may be forced to live in substandard housing. Families go through a rigorous qualification process and must demonstrate a need, a desire to partnership and have the financial ability to purchase their home.
