With a mix of worship, work and wood, a former president and 6,000 volunteers hope to raise 100 homes in the Houston area in a single week.
Beginning Monday, the 1998 Jimmy Carter Work Project aims to build houses in Houston’s Fifth Ward, a historic African-American hub that fell on hard times between 1970 and 1990, and Magnolia Park, a neighborhood with a rich Hispanic tradition that dates to about 1910.
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It will be the largest project ever attempted by Habitat for Humanity in the United States.
“The stage is set for us to make history,” said Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity. Internationally, his ecumenical organization has built 65,000 homes for low-income families.
Between 7 a.m. next Monday and midafternoon Tuesday, walls, roofs and plasterboard for 100 new homes will spring up, transforming once vacant lots into neighborhoods overnight. Painting, wiring, landscaping and other new-home trimmings will follow.
All of this is under the watchful eye and hammer of former President Carter, participating in his 15th such project.
“It’s exciting, challenging and always unpredictable,” Carter said of his Habitat experiences. “Rosalynn and I don’t consider it a sacrifice. Each year that we go, it’s an adventure for us.”
Some 4,500 local volunteers culled from businesses, churches and other groups will be joined by 1,500 sojourners with hard hats.
Many will stay at the University of Houston, Rice University and Texas Southern University while working different shifts from early morning to late at night. For some the weeklong event will be their first bout with Houston’s summer heat and sultry humidity.
Fuller said he considered that when recruiting volunteers for the project.
“I just explained that it would be a worthwhile spiritual experience,” Fuller said. Then, tongue in cheek, added, “Because if you build 100 homes in June in Houston, you’ll never consider going to hell.”
Though the local Habitat affiliate dedicated its first home slightly less than a decade ago, Houston attracted interest as a Carter project site as far back as 1989. But organizers determined it was not feasible at the time and the project was shifted to Milwaukee at the last moment.
In 1995, Houston Habitat turned to Michael Shirl, a chaplain and six-year volunteer, to expand their organization and finally bring the Carter project to Houston, the fourth-largest city in the country.
At the time, Habitat had just built its 52nd home in Houston and no one seriously contemplated a 100-home project.
In late 1996, local organizers planned 25 homes, a typical number for a Carter work project. After they were selected as the host city from more than 20 other applicants, however, they discovered Fuller had grander visions.
“He asked us what we could do to make the project unique,” Shirl said. “What was it going to take in Houston to get the public’s attention?”
Out of the ambitious goal of 100 homes grew Project Houston, Shirl’s plan to hike the local organization to “the next level.” Including the Carter project, Shirl wanted Habitat to build 385 homes between 1997 and 2001.
Project Houston also meant major bucks for the organization, with a goal of raising $15 million. Of that, $10 million has already been raised. Some money was used for new office space and a warehouse.
“This thing has grown beyond my wildest dreams,” said Carl Umland, Houston Habitat’s first president.
The same can be said for the 22-year-old Habitat For Humanity International. On its 10th anniversary in 1986, the organization had built only 1,000 homes. Not until after Carter began his work projects in 1984 did the organization really bloom.
By 1996, Habitat had built 49,000 homes. The organization plans to build its 100,000th home in New York City by September 2000.
Part of Habitat’s mission, Fuller said, is not only providing homes for those in need, but also raising public awareness of the dearth of affordable housing in Houston and around the world.
“We’re not just coming to Houston to put on a show,” Fuller said. “We’re going to spread the message that if you are a city official, pastor or businessman and you know people in your city living in poverty and are doing nothing about it — that’s a disgraceful thing.”
According to a Housing and Urban Development study released in April, about 64,000 Houston-area households face unaffordable rents and poor living conditions.
Better living conditions, Habitat’s credo goes, creates a better city.
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“It’s a matter of making good citizens out of people,” Carter said. “These folks have been dependent on society, they’ve probably been on welfare.
In addition to their work at various Carter project work sites, the 100 Habitat families or individuals receiving new homes have already worked 300 “sweat equity” hours for their new homes.
The homes, ranging in size from 1,100 to 1,250 square feet, will cost between $43,000 and $46,000 with a no-interest, 15- to 30-year mortgage.
Each house completion culminates with a dedication service, often a teary moment for the participants. Prayers are said and the home’s keys are given to the family.
Ken Browning, house construction leader for a Carter project home sponsored by Southwestern Bell, has been through two such ceremonies.
“You couldn’t wipe the smiles off the families’ faces with a Brillo pad,” he said.