THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 23, 1994 TAG: 9412210147
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUDITH PARKER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 190 lines
A PIECE OF WHITE PAPER is taped to the front door of the tan, aluminum-sided bungalow. Scribbled in ink is the admonition: ``Wipe your shoes before entering.''
It's a necessary warning to anyone who has walked across the straw protecting the freshly seeded front lawn of Cynthia Miles' new home.
Inside, the pale beige carpeting that Miles' sign protects from being smudged, helps muffle footsteps. The smell of newness is everywhere. Unpacked moving crates and pictures waiting to be hung are scattered about the seven rooms. The unassembled limbs of an artificial Christmas tree are strewn across the living room floor.
``This is going to be a very special room someday,'' Miles said. ``I'm saving every penny I can so I can decorate it all in white furniture. People laugh when I tell them that, but it's going to be so beautiful.''
When Miles, 36, describes her home in Prentis Place, she tilts her head slightly and her eyes begin to sparkle.
``I know it's a mess right now,'' she says, ``but the beds are made, and everything in the kitchen works. It's a big responsibility . . . having my own home . . . but I don't have to worry about depending on a landlord anymore.''
Clasping her hands, Miles says in a quiet voice, ``these walls will never fall, because they were built with love.''
The first speck of that love was unearthed on a hot Sunday afternoon in June, when a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the most recent Habitat for Humanity house constructed in Portsmouth, the second in as many years built entirely by a crew of women.
Miles' home, dubbed ``The House That Jill Built,'' is one of some 20 Habitat for Humanity's women's projects across the country.
According to Mary Keith Gardner, local building coordinator for Habitat and a private contractor, Miles' house was built with the volunteer services of about 300 women. Men are excluded from these women's projects, Gardner explained, ``because they have plenty of other opportunities to volunteer for Habitat.''
Sitting on a soft, brown sofa in the den of her two-bedroom home, surrounded by unpacked furnishings, Miles outlined the process that took her and her 12-year-old son, Robert, from years of living in public housing to homeownership.
``A girlfriend from work told me about the Habitat for Humanity program. That was in 1989,'' Miles recalled. ``I started the application process right away.
``I'd always dreamed of owning my own home. But being a single parent, I didn't think I'd ever be able to get out of subsidized housing. This is really a dream come true.''
Miles' first step toward homeownership was to meet with Habitat's Family Selection Committee, which determines if an applicant can afford the purchase and upkeep of a home.
If necessary, Habitat will work with them to improve a poor credit report, and makes arrangements for credit counseling and learning how to budget. Once these kinds of hurdles are cleared, the family is placed on a waiting list, a wait that might last as long as 10 years, Gardner said.
``The demand for affordable, low-cost housing is a lot greater than Habitat is able to handle,'' she added, noting that the organization relies entirely on volunteers for the actual construction of houses and on donations for building materials.
The cost of construction for a Habitat for Humanity House usually ranges between $30,000 and $35,000 with a market value of about $58,000. Miles' new home falls within those parameters.
As funds become available for construction of a Habitat home and sites are selected and purchased, families chosen to occupy a Habitat house are required to contribute 400 hours of work toward the building's construction.
``This is in lieu of a down payment,'' Gardner explained.
For Miles, hammering nails and screwing screws was an entirely new experience.
``I didn't know a thing about construction when this began,'' Miles said. ``I thought all nails and screws were alike. But I helped with everything except installing the electrical system. I even hung one of the shingles.''
A lifelong Norfolk resident until she moved to Prentis Place Dec. 3, Miles said growing up in the projects instilled in her a strong desire to create greater opportunities for her son.
``It was for Robert that I was determined to make this happen.''
After a series of minimum-wage jobs following her 1975 high school graduation, Miles began working at NationsBank in 1986 as a proof operator. Earning a promotion to the cash-flow division, she now works as a risk analyst in the credit-card security and fraud department.
``I didn't know anything about Portsmouth,'' Miles said. ``And even while the house was being built, I only knew one way to get to the house from the Downtown Tunnel. I went out Christmas shopping the other day and got lost trying to get back home from Tower Mall. But I'm learning the streets a little bit at a time.''
Although Miles has only been in her new home a few short weeks, she's making plans to become involved in community programs in the city.
``I especially want to work with the young people in the neighborhood,'' she said. ``I've been a volunteer with the Hunter Y program for the homeless in Norfolk, and I want to become involved helping the less fortunate in Portsmouth.''
A longtime Sunday school youth teacher and member of St. Paul Church of Christ Disciple, Miles displays no hesitation about where she gives credit for her obtaining a new home.
``I used to consider my apartment my condo, now I have a mansion - and I give all the credit to God.'' MEMO: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
More than three-quarters of a century after L. Frank Baum penned the
closing lines to ``The Wizard of Oz'' with Dorothy's plaintive quote
``There's no place like home, there's no place like home,'' Habitat for
Humanity, an organization that believes there's no place like ``a home''
was founded in Americus, Ga., by Millard and Linda Fuller.
HOW DID IT BEGIN?: During the late 1960s, the Fullers underwent a
kind of spiritual renewal within their marriage and their outlook on
life. Chucking a successful mail-order business in Alabama that had
earned the couple a million-dollar annual income, they became convinced
that there was more to life than making money and possessing material
goods. So the Fullers sold most of their belongings to spend time in a
Christian cooperative community, Koinonia Farms, in rural Georgia, while
they assessed their future.
It was in Georgia that the Fullers became aware of the need for
affordable housing for low-income families. In 1976, Habitat for
Humanity International was incorporated to help solve a problem that
affects as many as 3 million people living in substandard housing in the
United States.
In June 1994, Habitat, which ranks 17th on the list of the top 100
home builders in the United States, completed construction on its
30,000th house in this country. Between 1988 and 1993, Habitat built 16
homes in South Hampton Roads, including two in Portsmouth, and expects
to complete 12 houses by the end of 1994.
WHAT IS IT? Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical housing ministry
whose goal is to eliminate poverty housing throughout the world by
building or rehabilitating homes.
Houses are built with an all-volunteer labor force, and with
tax-deductible donations of money and materials. They are then sold at
no profit and with no-interest mortgages to partner families. Mortgage
payments, including taxes and insurance, are deposited in a revolving
``Fund for Humanity'' that supports construction of more houses. The
cost of construction of a Habitat house ranges from $30,000 to $35,000.
HOW DOES IT WORK? The emphasis in Habitat is on a ``partnership''
between the organization and the prospective homeownership families.
Each family selected for a Habitat house must invest 400 ``sweat
equity'' hours in the construction or rehabilitation of a house in lieu
of a downpayment. This helps reduce construction costs, builds pride in,
and teaches skills to the new homeowners.
Families interested in obtaining a Habitat house apply directly to
local Habitat projects. There are 681 local affiliate projects in the
United States and 132 others worldwide. A Family Selection Committee
chooses candidates based on level of need, ability to repay the loan,
and willingness to become partners in the project. Potential homeowners
are then placed on a waiting list.
DESIGN CRITERIA: The Habitat philosophy is to build simple houses.
Allowable living space is as follows: 2-bedroom house, 900 square feet;
3-bedroom house, 1,050 square feet; 4-bedroom house, 1,150 square feet.
The basic house should have only one bathroom, although additional
baths are permitted depending on budgetary considerations.
Homeowners have input into the basic design of the house, although a
predetermined dollar figure is counted into the total cost of the
building for families to add a personal touch for fixtures such as
fencing or picture windows, although no garages or carports are allowed.
Accessibility for handicapped individuals should be considered in the
design of the building.
For additional information or to become a volunteer with the South
Hampton Roads Habitat for Humanity Inc., call 625-1281. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos on cover by D. Kevin Elliott
Habitat for Humanity built Cynthia Miles' new home in the Prentis
Place neighborhood of Portsmouth. The house - as the flag suggests -
was constructed entirely by women.
Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
``These walls will never fall, because they were built with love,''
says Cynthia Miles of her home in Prentis Place, built entirely by a
crew of women.
LEFT: As Mom looks on, Robert Alvarez catches a little television
while taking a break from the books. ABOVE: A longtime Sunday school
youth teacher and member of St. Paul Church of Christ Disciple,
Miles displays no hesitation about where she gives credit for her
obtaining a new home. ``I used to consider my apartment my condo,
now I have a mansion - and I give all the credit to God.''
ABOVE: Cynthia Miles keeps up with the housework while her son,
Robert Alvarez, 12, takes care of the personal grooming in their
respective rooms. ``It's a big responsibility . . . having my own
home,'' Miles says, ``. . . but I don't have to worry about
depending on a landlord anymore.''
LEFT: Cynthia helps Robert with his homework. ``It was for Robert
that I was determined to make this happen,'' she says.
by CNB