Chatting with Shawn Means are (left to right) Sherri Payne (Pray Construction), Means, David Williams (Lanham O'Dell), and Rev. Bill Ellis.

November 4, 2008

"Habitat for Humanity has the same values as you," Shawn Means told Putnam Rotarians today. "You promote 'service above self.'

"And that is what Habitat does," he said. "Habitat provides a vehicle for Rotarians and other civic clubs, for churches, for businesses, for anyone, who wants to reach out and help their fellow man.

"Reach out your hand and we'll put a hammer in it.

"Right now, all around us, in Kanawha and Putnam County," said Means, "there are 9,000 sub-standard houses. That means living in a house without heat, without indoor plumbing, that has such structural problems that a heavy snow might send it to the ground."

Habitat's mission, he said, is to eliminate poverty housing.

"Habitat builds seven to ten new houses each year," the Kanawha-Putnam Habitat president continued. "We have built 125 houses in our 20-year history.

"You can do the math," said Means. "We're never going to eliminate poverty housing alone. That's why we reach out to form partnerships with churches, with civic groups, with corporations and businesses large and small. We know we have to have help."

Habitat uses volunteer labor and donated materials and land to build houses for a cost of around $60,000 each and which appraise for $85 to $90,000.

"And we sell a house at cost for a great mortgage interest rate: zero-point-zero percent interest.

"We're told that your greatest investment is your house. Not true. It's the interest on your house. And when you take away the interest, you bring the cost of home ownership within the range of many more people."

Many of the Habitat families have never owned a house before. "They don't know how to own a house. They fail to make payments. They fail to do maintenance."

Habitat now has a training program to help homeowners to be homeowners.

"We employ family counselors who conduct nine-week training classes in our Habitat University, on things like how to live on a budget, how to be a good neighbor.

"Last night," said Means, "I taught a class on home repairs. We didn't teach them how to make repairs. We teach them why they need to make repairs."

At his last meeting with Putnam Rotary, Means announced the gift of a thirty-acre tract of land by the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. "We built thirty homes in that new subdivision.

"Now, they're up and running, with their own homeowners' association."

Partnerships for the subdivision -- "we dedicated the last home last week" -- included municipal water and sanitary services, the County Commission, a construction company.

"But thirty houses is a drop in the bucket when you have 9,000 to build. We need more and more partnerships to build more and more houses for people in need."

Means reminded his audience that Habitat for Humanity is not a charity. "The people who get Habitat houses don't get charity. We give them an interest-free loan, and that's the extent of the charity. Just the interest.

"They pay for their houses the same way that you pay for your house. They are required to make their monthly payments. They're required to pay taxes and insurance.

"The second reason that we don't consider ourselves a charity, is that we aim to become self-sustaining. The money that Putnam Rotary put into the project on Rocky Step, the payments on that home are coming back to Habitat -- which will use it to build another home."

Habitat also operates the ReStore retail outlet which sells used and surplus building materials. Anyone can contribute, and anyone can shop there. Or anyone may volunteer to work there.

With a nod to Rotarian Sherri Payne, Means spoke of the expansion of their ReStore center by Payne's Pray Construction. "They're over there working right now," said Means.

And the money earned by ReStore goes into Habitat houses. This year, four houses for Habitat will be funded through ReStore.

"If you follow the Pray Construction trucks around town, you'll see a bumper sticker that says, 'We Support the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.'

"Pray Construction brings an enormous amount of donations from their job sites. When they are finished with a case of caulking, rather than spend the time and energy to return that caulking to the supplier, they bring it to us. Leftover wood, pieces of pipe, whatever it might be, they donate it to Habitat, and we sell that and use it to build houses.

"Don't think of Habitat for Humanity as a charity," said Means. "Think of it as an investment in your community. We want to build a better community that we're living in, that we're working in, that we have employees in. And your contribution to Habitat makes for a stronger and better community."