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Renee
Johnson and her son, Marquise Pedte, are excited to start
building their home through the Habitat for Humanity project,
which is slated to begin in June.
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Renee Johnson never thought she would
own a home.
But the mother, who works 11 hours a
day as a loan processor for JP Morgan Chase and earns a 3.75 grade
point average at Milwaukee Area Technical College, has friends who
thought differently.
Acting on a recommendation from a
friend, she decided to apply for a home loan from Milwaukee Habitat
for Humanity. Little did Johnson know she would be part of one of the
largest home building events in American history.
From June 5 to 9, Johnson, nine other
families, members of the Metropolitan Builder’s Association and
several independent contractors will take part in Habitat for Humanity’s
Home Builders Blitz, a five-day event in which 1,000 homes will be
built for needy families across the nation. Kevin Campbell, national
director for the project, says Milwaukee was chosen as the site for 10
homes. According to Campbell, Milwaukee builders have a history of
building not just in the community, but for the community. "The
(local) builders are not just there to make money," he says.
"They really want to have a positive presence of building in
their community."
Johnson’s new home doesn’t come for
free. To receive Habitat for Humanity’s no-down payment, no-interest
home loan, Johnson needed to accumulate 500 "sweat equity"
hours, which are earned by helping others build their homes.
Before she could even pick a lot for a
new home, she needed to have 200 "sweat" hours in the bank.
Johnson says she took a week of vacation from work to earn the hours.
"It was great. The homeowners were
so nice," Johnson says of the building experience. "Everyone
knows you’re new at this, but they let me try what I wanted to try,
even though I made mistakes."
Steve Tennies, construction coordinator
for Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, says one of their homes typically
costs around $60,000. But cost of the 10 homes to be built during the
Home Builders Blitz continually decline with each donation they
receive from suppliers.
"Hopefully the majority of
everything will be donated," Tennies says. "Our goal is to
have the cost as close to zero as possible."
Johnson picked a three-bedroom,
one-bath plan for her "no cost" home. She says she plans to
take the master bedroom for herself and turn one bedroom into a
Spider-man theme for her 3-year-old son, Marquise. She might make the
last room into a computer room or a toy room, she says.
"I always wanted to give my son a
house, but I figured it would never happen," Johnson says.
"To be able to give him a home will make me feel like I’m
giving him something that I never thought I could."
Tennies says the most homes built at
one time for Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity was during the Jimmy
Carter drive in 1989. Six homes were built that year. Starting June 5,
builders will work to build 10 homes, all on one block, all in one
week. The homes will be located near Metcalfe Park in Milwaukee.
Tennies says the effort requires massive organization to make sure the
job runs smoothly.
"It’s going to be like an
anthill that week," Tennies says. "We’re working together
to make sure we meet a schedule on an hourly basis."
To accomplish such a significant task,
Habitat for Humanity is not using the typical volunteers to build the
homes. Instead, it enlisted the help of the Metropolitan Builders
Association (MBA) to find local home builders to help coordinate the
efforts.
Matt Moroney, executive director of the
MBA, says the Home Builders Blitz will be the first partnership
between the organization and Habitat for Humanity. There were no
problems finding builders willing to donate their services (more than
30 builders and suppliers are participating) but at first it was a bit
overwhelming.
"It’s a lot to coordinate,"
Moroney says. "But once they see the schedule and the approach,
they see that it is not going to be difficult at all."
Brookfield-based home builder William
Ryan Homes will coordinate efforts to build Johnson’s new home. Tim
O’Brien, president of the Milwaukee Division of William Ryan Homes,
says the company’s job is to manage the logistics and the staging.
"During the construction, our job
is to make sure people don’t run into or over each other," O’Brien
says. "It’s going to be an exciting week but we are looking
forward to saying we have a bunch of happy homeowners."
But to have happy homeowners, builders
need the help of both subcontractors and suppliers. Lyn Schulz, owner
and president of Signature Lighting in Waukesha, offered to donate
every lighting fixture and ceiling fan for all 10 homes. The
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 494 of Milwaukee
is donating all the electrical work. Even the city of Milwaukee
promised to have three inspectors on site at all times to ensure the
building process constantly moves forward.
"It‘s been a bigger commitment
than we thought it would be," Schulz admits. "But it’s for
a good cause. It’s a project I wanted us to be involved in."
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