The Partnership has a goal of starting the next Habitat house this April. We are getting very close to April.
To begin construction in April we need a building permit (from the city of Elgin) and a family committed to partnering with the build effort. So far, we have neither.
Obtaining the permit requires a plat of survey, both architectural and engineering plans, a large fee and signed contractors for plumbing, heating, electrical and roofing. Only the plumbing contractor is not in hand at this time. I think we are very close on this though.
Then, the other thing we need to begin construction, is a family to help build and then purchase the house. The Affiliate we are associated with is responsible for finding the family. Stay tuned.
Spring of Life depends on volunteers to raise money to build homes for families in need of affordable housing. To raise the nearly $100,000.00 to build each home requires the efforts on many talented and giving volunteers.
One of these is Dick Kingdon, a retired FDA professional. Dick can usually be found at the work site, when we are building, or available to help with various fund-raising tasks when the need arises. Recently, because of an ad Spring of Life ran on Craigslist (offering to sell a water heater that was donated to the Partnership), someone contacted us offering ten new windows no longer needed. The windows were located in Naperville, Illinois.
On very short notice, Dick agreed to borrow his neighbor’s trailer and drive to Naperville to pick up the windows. Despite some nasty weather the windows (plus a refrigerator and range) were picked up by Dick and delivered to Arlington Heights. They will be used in one of our Habitat homes or sold for money or donated to Restore.
Then, a neighbor who is refurbishing a home for sale, offered Spring of Life some very nice carpeting if we would remove it from the home. Again, on short notice, Dick agreed to come over and help. For the better part part of a day, Dick moved furniture, cut and rolled carpeting and carried these very heavy rolls out of the house. Try carrying a fourteen by fourteen foot roll of thick carpeting! All this with a knee injured in playing racquet ball.
When not helping Habitat, Dick sings in a quartet and The New Tradition Chorus, both groups being international champions.
Above and beyond, indeed!
Thank you, Dick.
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Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.
- Albert Einstein
Thanks to Bill Klaves of Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley and Andrea of Korte Architecture final plans for our next build were received in time for our monthly Steering Committee meeting last Tuesday. The Steering Committee is the governing body of Spring of Life Partnership, which raises the money and builds homes in conjunction with our Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. These plans are the first milestone, out of four, necessary to begin actual construction of the next house at 959 Lavoie, Elgin, Illinois. The next two steps are obtaining engineering plans (defining how the house will interact with the actual piece of land) and applying for a building permit from the City of Elgin. The final step is obtaining a family that will help build the house and has the necessary qualifications to purchase the home when completed. The Affiliate vets the families and matches their needs with the houses being built.
The plans call for a handsome Prairie Style ranch house, approximately 1500 sq. ft. in size, with small porches, front and rear, a bath and a half and three bedrooms. The initial plans also call for a two-car garage. This is a bit more than some standard Habitat ranches, but it suits the neighborhood and better meets the expanded needs of modern families. Several things may change these plans: the Affiliate may say it’s too much, the Partnership may say it’s too much money and the City may make changes when we apply for a permit.
Why would the Affiliate say it is too much? The Affiliate is part of Habitat for Humanity, which seeks to eliminate poverty housing by building affordable homes, using volunteer labor and resources. Thus, there is always going to be a tug of war between building decent, affordable homes and doing it as inexpensively as possible.
What is a decent house? A small box with two BRs and a small Bath? I don’t think so and I don’t think many neighbors would think so, either. A slightly larger ranch with three BRs and larger kitchen and larger living area? People would probably say this is the minimum for both family living and neighborhood acceptance. BTW, only families are eligible to buy Habitat homes.
Slightly larger houses may be more acceptable to some neighbors and to some families.
Why would the Partnership say it’s too much money? For every home we build, the Partnership of eleven churches must raise the $80 -100,000.00 necessary to do the building and to supply much of the labor. When the home is completed it is turned over to the Affiliate for sale, and the Partnership starts over, again, with raising the money and building another home.
If you are interesting in meeting some very nice people and/or learning something about building, please visit our website - Spring of Life, where you can donate money or material or volunteer to help build. All ages (16 and over) and experience levels are welcome. We usually build every Saturday, once we get started, and sometimes on Wednesdays.
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Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body.
- Sir Richard Steele
