Habitat for Humanity plans to rehab numerous homes

Habitat for Humanity purchased a townhome in the Georgetown South neighborhood in Manassas early in 2008 in hopes of having a new owner move in and rehab the place.

A problem soon arose, though. Families applying to live there were too large for the residence, said executive director Traci DeGroat.

But thanks to a new influx of state money, the charitable organization will now be able to tailor some of their houses to families, instead of the other way around. On June 8, Habitat affiliates throughout Northern Virginia learned they would be eligible for $1.5 million of $17.5 million in Neighborhood Stabilization funding from the state.

The Northern Virginia area includes Prince William County, with the largest amount of the $1.5 million going to the affiliate with the most need, said DeGroat.

If garnered by the local affiliate, the money will be used to purchase and rehab existing homes in various areas of the county and Manassas, including Williamstown in Dumfries, Georgetown South and Irongate in Manassas and a large swath of neighborhoods in Dale City.

"One thing we're not going to do is put a family back in an overcrowded situation,"DeGroat said.

On Wednesday, Habitat held a family selection night in Woodbridge where they explained to six interested homebuyers the criteria for owning a Habitat home. To qualify, an applicant must earn between 30 and 50 percent of the area median income, a number that fluctuates depending on the number of children in the family.

And before a sale is finalized, homeowners must provide, among other things, 250 to 350 hours of sweat equity, a down payment of 1 percent and money for closing costs, if possible.

Owners of the home would pay a zero percent interest rate and the sweat equity numbers could be lowered due to deadlines in spending the state money.t

So far, Habitat has received 12 applications and will have two more family selection meetings:  July 16 from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Manassas Baptist Church and July 22 from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Ferlazzo Building in Woodbridge.

For Woodbridge resident Kiesha Pickens, who attended Wednesday's meeting, owning a home would be a dream realized.

Neither Pickens, 36, nor her mother ever owned a house. She and her three children are currently living at her aunt's house, where she used to come and visit as a child growing up in Portsmouth.

Pickens isn't working and is currently on disability, having had her thyroid gland recently removed. However, she is eager to get back to working in customer service and to provide whatever sweat equity she can.

That sweat may be coming from the kitchen. Lacking any real construction or home improvement experience, Pickens said she'd like to cook for the workers on the job site—which qualifies as sweat equity.

"I would love to make one of my homemade batches of fried chicken, potato salad, string beans and lemonade and take it out there to them," Pickens said. "... I do expect to get my hands dirty."

Staff writer Kipp Hanley can be reached at 703-878-8062.