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05 September 2012
The Fluvanna County Habitat for Humanity celebrated the groundbreaking of its new community, Cedar Ridge, earlier this summer.
The event, at the Palmyra Fire Station on Rt. 15, featured refreshments, music by Jake Miller’s Lake Christian Church Praise Band, and an introduction to the chapter’s new organizational initiative, New Beginnings.
Cedar Ridge, located across from the Palmyra Fire station, is a green Earthcraft-certified community. Earthcraft is a construction certification process that uses energy efficient and environmentally responsible building techniques. It has been shown to significantly reduce energy usage which leads to lower monthly utility costs. Cedar Ridge will be home to five deserving Habitat families.
Energy efficiency is not the only way in which the Fluvanna Habitat for Humanity is embracing the future. According to Habitat’s president, Mike Himes, “We are restructuring our affiliate from the bottom to the top to be more efficient and therefore more effective. Our goal over the next five years is to triple the number of families we help to attain home ownership.”
A critical part of this restructuring is the new family selection process. The heart of this process is a strong emphasis on credit counseling and financial responsibility.
This new process begins with an orientation meeting on Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. at the Palmyra Fire Station. All who are interested in owning a Habitat home must attend this meeting as this is the only way to obtain an application.
The purpose of the orientation meeting is to present the steps required to own a Habitat home. After filling out the application and all other required documentation, applicants must pass a criminal and sexual offender background check. The application process also includes an interview, a home visit, and a credit score check. Note that applicants must either live or work in Fluvanna County to be eligible.
Once the requirements are met, the applicant must attend a series of homebuyer and financial education classes, begin to save for the down payment, and attend one-on-one sessions with a financial counselor. At the conclusion of the successful application process, the family can then purchase a Habitat home and build it in partnership with Habitat for Humanity.
The purpose of this process is to provide the Habitat home owner with the tools they need to effectively purchase a house and to make sound budgetary and financial decisions for their family. According to Himes, “this not only ensures the family prospers in their new home, but helps lift them to a better level in life.”
To attend the orientation meeting call 434-589-3752 to reserve a spot.
