Habitat for Humanity build homes through faith
Early in life in Sunday school, Christians learn that above all else Jesus loved every person no matter what and that Christ helped those in need, even when others did not see a need. Going forward in life, one must be “Christlike,” which means loving and helping others with no judgement.
The Starkville Rotarians embody this with their motto: “Service Above Self.” Habitat for Humanity also takes this seriously with their Christian mission of helping families in poor housing situations who just need a break, so it is only fitting that Starkville Rotary Club heard from Joel Downey, the executive director of the Starkville Habitat for Humanity.
Starkville Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1986, and they are still going strong in the area.
“First and foremost, we are a Christian ministry. We believe that the Christian God calls us to serve the poor and needy,” Downey said. “We do this through housing. We are a part of Habitat International, which got started some time around 1968. If any of you are familiar with nonprofits, most don’t last beyond their first year to five years. The Starkville Habitat has been going strong for 30 years, and that is because the people before me worked really hard to make sure we were good.”
Starkville Habitat pays tithes to Habitat International that helps fund foreign ministries and disaster relief. Their focus is on housing and helping to address generational poverty.
According to Downey, the United States census indicates that the national poverty level is 11 percent, Mississippi’s is 19 percent, and Oktibbeha County is at 31 percent.
Many people in Oktibbeha County are born into families who have never owned a house, which makes it hard for them to get out of the rut of poverty because it is proven that owning a home provides much needed stability.
“The families that we’re dealing with are people who are primarily in generational poverty, family after family after family. If we can break that cycle of poverty with homeownership as the asset building tool, then we can use that in the future going on then we can hopefully help those families more,” Downey said.
Those who are chosen by Habitat for Humanity to get a house must put in 300 volunteer hours, 100 from them
and 200 can be from friends and family. They must also go through financial literacy courses and other classes that will help them in the long run. They must also be able to commit to paying a $500 to $600 a month for a mortgage.
Not
all
homes
work out though, but thankfully Starkville Habitat only has a two percent foreclosure rate, and it is a last resort option. Some people just refuse to pay their mortgage despite multiple help attempts from people invested in their success.
Habitat gets 25 percent of their money from mortgage repayments and 35 percent from the Habitat for Humanity Restore. The rest comes from donations from businesses, churches, and individuals.
68 percent of the Habitat budget goes to home building, as a three bedroom home can cost on average $95,000 including the cost of a construction manager and the lot that the house goes on.
As Covid numbers begin to fall, building and volunteering is ramping back up for the nonprofit, and they are always looking for more volunteers and accepting generous donations.
Starkville Habitat for Humanity is incredibly important for the residents of Oktibbeha County, especially those living in poverty.
At the end of his presentation, Starkville Rotary President John Forde presented Joel Downey with a $3,000 check from the Rotary grant to help provide simple yet study homes to those in need in the community.