SHARON Applications being accepted for house planned by Habitat

The program helps poor people achieve the pride of homeownership.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
SHARON, Pa. -- Wanted: A highly motivated, low-income head of household seeking affordable homeownership.
Mercer County Habitat for Humanity is seeking applicants meeting that description who would be candidates to occupy Habitat's seventh house in Mercer County.
The two-story home will be built with mostly volunteer labor on a donated vacant lot in the 500 block of South Irvine Avenue in Sharon next year, with groundbreaking next spring and completion late in the year.
"Anything that improves a community, or in this case a county, is something that is of benefit to everybody," said Bill Good of Hadley, chairman of Habitat's family selection and support committee. "If people have any kind of concern about those who are less fortunate, then this is one way to help them," he added. "Homeownership is not reachable by many of those people, except through something like Habitat," he said.
Habitat is a nonprofit, international, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, whose goal is to eliminate substandard housing and provide decent, affordable homes for low-income families.
Seventh house
The new single-family home, which will be about 1,200 square feet, will be the seventh Habitat home in the county since 1994. The first three were built in the Greenville area and the fourth and fifth were built in Farrell. All the Habitat homes were new construction, except for the sixth, which was a renovation of a vacant, donated house on Prospect Street in Sharon, completed in August of this year.
Applicants must have lived in the county for at least a year at the time of application, have incomes below 150 percent of the federal poverty level based on the size of their families, currently reside in unsatisfactory or overcrowded housing, be able to make a 1 percent down payment and monthly payments on a no-interest loan from Habitat, and be willing to contribute labor toward construction of their new home.
Families with one adult must contribute 250 hours, and those with two adults must contribute 500 hours. Construction costs typically range from $40,000 to $45,000, and mortgages typically run 30 years, with monthly payments of $300 to $325, including the mortgage, taxes and insurance. Habitat homes have driveways but no garages.
"The fact that we require a down payment and sweat equity hours is a way for them to feel a sense of ownership before they move into that house," Good said. "People tend to have a greater pride in a home that they own," rather than rent, he added.
Numerous applicants
Habitat got a little over 100 inquiries from interested people, 65 of whom qualified, and 35 of whom applied for residence in its sixth home, Good said. "We had 35 applications to go through to get down to one family," he said. So far, there have been 31 inquiries concerning the seventh house. The application deadline is Jan. 5. Habitat can be reached at (724) 347-3587.
Habitat, which will build 20,000 houses worldwide this year, makes appeals to churches and community service organizations for donations of money, volunteer time and construction materials.
The organization's office space at 1864 E. State St., Hermitage, is donated by Lawyers Abstract Co. of Mercer County, whose underwriting counsel, Atty. Chester B. Scholl Jr., donates legal services to Habitat and is a member of Habitat's board of directors.
The organization recently acquired a 2,500-square-foot warehouse on Franklin Street in Sharon, which it will use to store construction materials and tools and pre-build some parts of houses indoors during the winter. The warehouse will also have space for a meeting room and office.