Indian River County Habitat for Humanity celebrates 20 years

INDIAN RIVER COUNTY, Fla. - INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — It's been 20 years since four residents started a program that would help working families achieve their dream of homeownership.

Charlie Cox, Bill Elliott, Ray Scent and Bob Walsh were committed to bringing the successful Habitat for Humanity program to the county. In the first 10 years of the program, Habitat built 23 homes in the county. In the next 10 years, it built 234, making homeownership possible for more than 250 families.

The nonprofit organization last month opened a new headquarters and training center on U.S. 1, just north of the Vero Beach city limits. Cox, Elliott and Scent were at the grand opening ceremony, which also was attended by Habitat families, volunteers and staff.

The 8,100-square-foot building, designed by architect John Dean, contains office space for 30 staff members, plus space for meetings and classes. Potential homeowners must attend 13 required classes during the process of obtaining a Habitat home.

"It's very much a training center," said public relations coordinator Sam Baita. "We needed to have a place for homeowner and volunteer training, as well as place for families to come when they are applying for the program. There is a lot of private information that is shared, and now we have a nice location where people can feel comfortable."

The traditional Habitat program involves building new homes such as those under construction in southern Vero Beach and Fellsmere. Last year, 20 new homes were built, with 25 more — 19 in South Vero and six in Fellsmere — due for completion by April 30.

The program now includes an initiative where Habitat purchases existing homes, refurbishes them and sells them to qualified homeowners. Last year, Habitat purchased nine bank-owned homes in Indian River County, with plans for 13 more this year. Money for the purchases will come from a Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant administered by the county.

Habitat also offers a Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, which helped 22 families last year with repairs, weatherization and painting projects. This year, the program will help 30 families with home repairs, including 10 local veterans.

Stacey Butler has lived in the Grace Woods Habitat for Humanity community in south Vero Beach for three years and said she would never have been able to afford a house if it weren't for the program.

"I was so happy to get this house," said Butler. "Where we were living before, it was terrible and it wasn't safe for my children and grandchildren. I thank God every day for Habitat."

Homeowners such as Butler must make a commitment to the program by providing at least 300 hours of "sweat equity" or volunteer hours to Habitat. Because Butler has a disability and was unable to do manual labor, she performed her hours working at the Habitat Center store on U.S. 1.

Baita said Habitat continues to provide support for homeowners even after the purchase is completed through continuing education opportunities. It also supports the children of Habitat homeowners by paying for after-school programs and providing classes to prepare older children for college.

"Right from the beginning, we knew we couldn't give anything to anybody," said Baita. "Habitat families work hard to acquire the knowledge and skills to be responsible homeowners. We are continuing our mission of making sure people have safe, decent housing, and to make sure that we don't have any second-generation Habitat homeowners."