“Crazies” to build Habitat for Humanity home over two days

By Sarah Lehr

slehr@vindy.com

STRUTHERS

When Janine DiPaola heard she’d become the owner of her first home, she burst into tears.

DiPaola, a Liberty native, will soon move into a Ridgeway Drive home, built by the Habitat for Humanity “crazies.”

The crazies are a group of volunteers who gather several times a year for what they call “blitz builds.” In the vein of old-fashioned barn-raisings or the TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” blitz builds involve constructing a house’s entire exterior over just two days.

Close to 50 crazies from 14 states will descend on Struthers this weekend to build the DiPaola home. All crazies travel on their own dime.

The crazies live up to their name, said Colin Penney, programs director for Habitat for Humanity of the Mahoning Valley.

“They have all sorts of gags and schticks that they do to keep things light-hearted because it can be intimidating coming out to a construction site if you’re never done anything more than pick up a hammer to hang a painting or something,” Penney said.

Local volunteers are encouraged to lend a hand Saturday and Sunday during construction and should contact esources@habitatmahoning.org or 330-743-7244, ext. 303

Habitat also welcomes donations of food, especially cookies for a cookie table. Cookies can be dropped off Friday at the Habitat office, 480 Youngstown-Poland Road, or directly at the construction site, 58 Ridgeway Drive.

Those who can’t make it to the construction site this weekend, can watch the build via a Livestream posted to the organization’s Facebook page. Youngstown Computer will organize the Livestream and will use drone photography to create a time-lapse video of the weekend.

Since its inception in 1989, HHMV has built or rehabilitated 95 homes in the local area and 19 homes across the globe.

Monica Craven, executive director, said neighborhoods often see a spike in property values after construction or rehabilitation of a Habitat home.

“What they’re doing is revitalizing,” said DiPaola, herself a longtime Habitat worker.

To be approved for a Habitat home, proprietors must contribute “sweat-equity” hours of work for the organization. Habitat for Humanity charges zero interest for mortgage payments on its homes. A typical monthly payment for a Habitat mortgage is about $350 a month, Penney said.

“Kind of due to irresponsible lending by others, it’s become really difficult particularly for folks with a single income to qualify for a traditional mortgage,” Penney said, referring to the 2008 housing crisis. “But, Habitat believes that everybody deserves a decent place to live as long as you have a sustainable income.”