Habitat picks up home-building pace
Capacity, output increase heading into Butte County affiliate's 30th anniversary
CHICO >> Nicole Bateman has seen a lot change at Butte County Habitat for Humanity in the nine years she's served as executive director, but not so much as over the past three.
In the aftermath of the Camp Fire, the housing nonprofit's local affiliate pivoted from projects in Chico to the Paradise ridge. Grants, notably from the North Valley Community Foundation and Habitat for Humanity International, allowed Bateman to increase the organization's reach and output. From building a house or two a year, the group now is primed for 10.
As Butte County Habitat gears up for its 30th anniversary, recruitment is underway for the next batch of families to become homeowners in Paradise. Soon, Habitat will restart construction in Chico — and, Bateman said, is open to more in Oroville, too.
“We are in a really good place,” she said Thursday morning at the affiliate's headquarters on Meyers Street. “We've been growing our capacity the past three or four years, and we definitely have the capacity to have more of an impact on the community now than we've ever had.”
Butte County Habitat finished seven houses last year, 12 over the past three years. That's almost a third of the 35 houses built the previous 27 years. Habitat is well underway on its 48th and 49th houses, in Paradise, and rolling into more.
Including one claimed by fire, the organization has built 38 residences in Chico, eight in Paradise and two in Oroville. These go to low-income families who join volunteers and professionals for construction (work known as sweat equity). Habitat sells the homes to families at cost with affordable financing.
Marie Demers, housing manager for the city of Chico's community development department, works with Bateman on projects such as homes in the Chapman neighborhood, where Habitat will build again next year. She sees myriad positive impacts in an area where affordable housing is needed greatly.
“Habitat provides the step from an affordable rental to homeownership along the housing continuum,” Demers said. “Homeownership provides security for the household (and) contributes to neighborhood stability, the making of community and, eventually, wealth generation for the household.”
Addressing needs
Habitat started in Butte County in April 1993. Since, the local affiliate has provided housing for 63 adults and 94 children. Three families have fully paid off their mortgages.
The Camp Fire in November 2018 prompted a refocus. It also sparked changes that facilitated Habitat's expansion, such as the redesignation of Paradise as a rural community where the U.S. Department of Agriculture can initiate loans. This multiplied the resources available to potential Habitat homeowners.
Meanwhile, grants enabled Bateman to increase the size of her staff with professionals in construction, fundraising, marketing and volunteer coordination. Then there's the ReStore, Habitat's most steady source of funding — the shop selling donated home improvement supplies and housewares has seen a jump in sales, hitting an all-time high of $11,000 in a week earlier this month.
Along with homes in Paradise, fire survivors received housing in five of six houses built on Mulberry Street in Chico. Habitat will break ground on a nearby parcel — for three houses and three
accessory dwelling units — also in proximity to four houses on East 20th Street.
“Our emphasis is Paradise for the next 10 years,” Bateman said, “but this project in Chico is one we've been working on for a long, long time. We are pretty full for the next couple years, but we know the need is great for the entire county, and Oroville is part of it.
“There's a need for affordable rentals, there's a need for transitional housing and there's a need for affordable homeownership,” she added. “I see Habitat as part of the continuum of getting people stable, decent and affordable housing.”