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| Telephone: 320-231-2704 Toll Free: 1-877-926-6434 Fax: 320-231-0659 E-mail: hfhwcm@habitatwcm.org P.O. BOX 1171 4078 Highway 71 NW Willmar, MN 56201 |
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Habitat for Humanity of West Central MN is pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the nation. We do not discriminate against anyone in obtaining housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, familial status, marital status, or receipt of public assistance.
However, if you would like to be on our calling list, please call or stop by for a Pre-Application form.
Family selection
Anyone wishing to purchase a
Habitat home must complete an application and go through the family
selection process. Habitat for for Humanity is here to give families a hand up, not
a hand out. The process of selecting a family in which to partner takes approximately three
months. Once the family has been chosen and agrees to partner with Habitat,
then the construction of the house will begin. Habitat focuses on improving life
for the long haul. This is not an overnight project. The time table
might seem long, but a Habitat house which is made into a home by the family in
need is more than worth the wait.
Habitat
for Humanity holds to three basic criteria for family selection when
choosing a
partner family to purchase a home. The three criteria are:
Need for adequate shelter
Families will be chosen who are living in inadequate or substandard
conditions or pay over 50% on housing costs. Circumstances considered may be overcrowding, deplorable
physical conditions of the dwelling, or some other factors that constitute
“inadequate or substandard” living conditions.
Ability to Pay
Families must have incomes that are too low to enable them to secure
conventional financing from a bank or other traditional lending
institution. But, their income and credit history must be sufficient for them to make the
monthly payments required on the no-profit, no-interest Habitat mortgage.
A Federal guideline is used to determine income eligibility.
Willingness to partner
Families must be willing to partner with Habitat for Humanity of West
Central
Minnesota in building the house. This means fulfilling the
requirements
of Habitat homeownership by putting in the mandatory
“sweat-equity” hours in
building their own houses and/or other Habitat houses. Selected
homeowners are required to attend homeowners classes. These hours
are part of the sweat equity requirement. Families must agree to pay a $500 down payment before closing
on their home. Families must agree to make monthly mortgage payments.
“From
the beginning, we have insisted on nondiscriminatory family selection criteria
for all Habitat homeowner families, which we believe to be consistent with the
universal love of God. No one is excluded from that love. Neither
race nor religion determines who will receive a Habitat home. Need is the
paramount criterion.”
—Millard Fuller, A Simple, Decent Place to Live, Word Publishers,
- Provide simple decent housing for low income
families;
- Make decent shelter a matter of conscience
and action; and
- Bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout West Central Minnesota.