Habitat announces choice of first Partner Family

LEIPSIC - Putnam County Habitat for Humanity has approved the family it will partner with to build the first Habitat home in Putnam County. Jeremy Bishop signed a letter of acceptance as a Partner Family at the Habitat Board of Directors meeting on November 5 at Leipsic United Methodist Church. Construction of the home for Jeremy and his two children will begin in March 2010.

The Habitat Family Selection committee reviewed over 20 family applications for homes from low-income families in Putnam County. "The Family selection process is quite challenging, and we had many deserving applicants,” said Dan VonderEmbse, Family Selection Co-chair. “By choosing Jeremy as a true partner with Habitat, we are confident we will be building up the whole community as we build a new home for his family. Our committee is looking forward to finding many more excellent partner families in the future."

“The process we used was very thorough and definitely fair to all concerned,” said Mary Jo Williams, Family Selection Co-chair. “We followed a process of elimination with every prospective family receiving the same consideration. Families that did not meet income requirements (based on their reports) were eliminated first. Next, families with credit concerns were eliminated, but referred to the Family Support Committee to help resolve these issues in the hope that they could improve their credit and financial situation and reapply in the future.”

“Then it came down to considering the three basic criteria - need, willingness to partner and ability to pay.” continued Ms. Williams. “These were determined through the home visit process, as well as through credit checks regarding ability to pay. Our full committee made the determination as to how to rank the families who made it through the screening process and went through the home visitation process. Those committee members who conducted home visits were certainly humbled by being welcomed into our applicants' homes, were touched by their sincerity and openness, and are better people for having participated in the process.”

Members of the Family Selection Committee include Mary Jo Williams and Dan VonderEmbse, Co-chairs; Susan Basinger, Nancy Cain, Marge Dresbach, Mark Hamilton, Shannon Wright, Joyce Wyant and Anne Yore.

The Family Support Committee will start working with the Bishop family to complete the first 50 hours of “Sweat Equity” before construction of their home begins next spring. Habitat Partner Families are required to invest 350 “Sweat Equity” hours on the construction of their homes and homes for others.

Putnam County Habitat is now looking for people with construction experience to serve as crew leaders who will supervise 3-5 volunteers at the building site. There will be approximately 4 crews on each day of construction. Crew leaders are not expected to volunteer for every day of construction. If you are knowledgeable in one or all phases of house construction and would like to be part the construction of Putnam County’s first Habitat house, contact the Habitat office at 419 523-9621, email pcohhabitat@putnamohhabitat.org or visit the office in the Ottawa Presbyterian Church, 150 North Oak Street, Ottawa. Office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30 am to Noon.

Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing from our communities, our nation and our world. Habitat partners with low-income families to build, own and maintain simple, decent affordable homes. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat for Humanity International has built over 300,000 homes around the world, housing over 1.5 million people.