Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994 TAG: 9407130005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Cars whiz up and down Elm Avenue, a few feet from the front of Tony and Brenda Blaha's home in Southwest Roanoke.
As their four children play on the porch, one angry motorist curses loudly at another.
The kids giggle, in that mischievous way that kids will at things they know they should not.
Brenda is not amused. "It's not funny," she tells them, her blue eyes darting a mother's stern warning.
And under her breath, she mutters, "I can't wait to move out of here."
Their house is an old structure with a dark, stuffy interior and mile-high ceilings. The children limit their play to the porch or a side yard. The front yard is far too close to the street for a parent's comfort, the Blahas say.
But that will change soon. In September, they will move into a 14-house Habitat for Humanity community where folks like themselves, who walk the fine line between have and have not, will live.
The couple looked for a house to buy "for the longest," Tony said.
"The banks told us we didn't qualify, told us we couldn't afford a mortgage payment," he said.
With Habitat, they found not only a monthly mortgage payment that is nearly half of what they pay in rent, but also a chance to fulfill a dream that seemed too far out of reach.
Habitat for Humanity in the Roanoke Valley is an 8-year-old affiliate of a worldwide ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing - and to which former President Jimmy Carter has visibly lent association.
Established literally in the kitchens of Roanoke-area residents, the Roanoke Valley affiliate has built 31 homes for the working poor. Fourteen more are planned for a five-acre site off Kellogg Avenue in Northwest Roanoke.
Eight of those 14 will go under roof in a one-day "building blitz" Saturday. Nearly 300 volunteers - including the Blahas and other families who have been selected for the homes - will hammer and saw to help Habitat's mission of providing decent, affordable housing for people in need.
The Kellogg Avenue project will extend that street, creating a new 800 block ending in a cul-de-sac. It will include Habitat's first four-bedroom homes - two on slightly larger lots at the end of the street. The other homes will follow Habitat's conventional three-bedroom, one-story style.
The homes will have central air conditioning - a first for the valley's Habitat homes, courtesy of 14 donated heat pumps.
The first eight homes are expected to be completed in September. The remaining six will be under roof later this summer and completed by the end of the year.
"This is quality housing for people who don't have a lot of income," said David Camper, president of Habitat's Roanoke Valley affiliate. "These are not low-income homes. [The buyers] don't make a tremendous amount of money, but they are working people. This is not welfare."
Because so much of the labor and materials is donated, houses valued at $40,000 to $50,000 can be sold to families for about $33,000. Buyers must make a down payment but pay no interest, so payments are about $200 a month for a 20-year term. Payments are deposited into a revolving fund that supports the construction of more houses.
The Blahas pay $375 a month in rent on the Elm Avenue home. In the winter months, electric bills run in the triple digits.
The couple's mortgage payments on their Habitat home will be a little more than $200 a month, said Tony, who works as a packer at Elizabeth Arden. And with a heat pump, he figures utility bills should be more manageable.
The Kellogg Avenue property - which adjoins flood-plain land but is several feet out of the flood plain - sat vacant for years. When Habitat acquired the land, it was "raw," taking about a year to convert into a developable piece of property, Camper said.
"The land had to be graded," he said. "There was no road, no sewer or water lines, no electricity."
Now, the property is a tawny stretch of land, a clearing surrounded by a dense collection of trees.
The Blahas frequently visit the lot where their four-bedroom home will rest. They envision the entry way, the dining room, the kitchen.
But they also come to work, to help accrue the 300 hours of sweat equity that Habitat home buyers are required to invest in the construction of their homes.
Habitat is not a giveaway program.
Said Brenda, a Manpower Temporary Services employee, "If you want something, you have to work for it."
\ Richard and Diane King lived from month to month, challenged to make ends meet with three children and a $295 monthly rent payment on a two-bedroom house, plus other monthly expenses. They tried to buy a house in Roanoke, even an old fixer-upper.
"We couldn't get anything," Diane said.
An outreach worker for the Child Health Investment Partnership - through which the Kings' children receive medical care - referred them to Habitat. After submitting an application, attending a series of Habitat's family nurturing classes, putting in the 300 hours of sweat equity and scraping together a $600 down payment, the family moved into a three-bedroom Habitat home in Northeast Roanoke in 1991.
"They let us pick the carpet and tiles, pick the siding, pick the landscaping," Diane said. "It was like buying a dream house."
Three years later, Diane says the house still feels new.
"Things are really better for us," she said. "We're working to pay for a home instead of throwing money away. We've been able to invest in something.
"It's the working class who can't go out and get a house, don't make enough to qualify for a loan. I'm very lucky. Habitat came out of nowhere and saved us."
Stories like King's send Olivia LaMotte soaring.
LaMotte, wife of the former pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, helped found the valley's Habitat affiliate eight years ago.
Total Action Against Poverty had formed a committee representing all segments of the Roanoke community - church, civic and government - to address community issues, LaMotte said. While the focus initially was on drugs and crime, discussion eventually turned to housing, she said. Someone mentioned Habitat for Humanity.
"We began to get together in kitchens and talk to people in various denominations to see if this idea would fly," said LaMotte, who now lives in Wake Forest, N.C., where her husband, John, is pastor of Wake Forest Presbyterian Church. "We began to pull in people from various denominations." As word spread, the organization attracted the attention of contributors and sponsors willing to donate money, land or labor to its mission.
The organization's first building project was four homes in the 1300 block of Gilmer Avenue in Northwest Roanoke. The property, donated to the organization, was a vacant lot, thought to be undevelopable because of a large sewer line that crossed the property diagonally, LaMotte said.
"We ended up sacrificing the middle [of the property]," she said. "But the community was very receptive. They were so glad to get rid of the vacant lot."
Not everyone has been as receptive. Some residents, community organizations and landowners have resisted Habitat's efforts. Where Habitat sees vacant land as holding the promise of affordable housing, others see property devaluation or neighborhood encroachment.
Last summer, Carl Tinsley, president of the Gainsboro Neighborhood Development Corp., objected to Habitat homes built on Harrison Avenue. The houses, he contended, did not blend with surrounding dwellings and were planned without residents' knowledge.
"My point was that they put them in there without any concern about how it was going to affect the community," Tinsley said. "They built them without any notification of any neighbors in Gainsboro. We supported the program, but we didn't support them building what I call the `row house' effect."
Habitat was sensitive to neighborhood concerns, Camper said. Though construction of more houses had been planned, the project was stopped.
Habitat has found itself grappling with an issue that governments, planning organizations and community service agencies have only recently begun to address: spreading out the valley's affordable housing for low-income residents.
All of the 31 homes built by Habitat's Roanoke Valley affiliate are in Roanoke. Habitat has tried to find property in Salem and Roanoke County, but found either seller resistance, costliness or scarcity.
Terry Harrington, director of planning for Roanoke County, met several months ago with Camper to talk about available property in the county. They reviewed a listing of the county's surplus properties.
Most of that property, Harrington said, "is not real developable. It is land created for detention ponds or well lots."
And developable county property would likely be more expensive than in-fill lots in the city, he said.
Joe Yates, Salem's director of planning and development, said he met with Habitat members and identified property that seemed suitable for the organization's needs.
But "nobody wanted to sell the lots to them," Yates said. Property is scarce in Salem, he said.
Camper said Habitat has not yet closed the door on building homes in other valley localities.
"We'll be there," he said. "We just have to find the right location."
\ Olivia LaMotte has watched people flourish and children blossom under the Habitat program.
"The whole self-esteem of people is so affected by where they live," she said. "Many of these people come from desperate housing situations. I've seen families in places where they were afraid to let their children go outdoors, where they were prisoners in their own houses.
"It's beautiful to see those families playing in their yards, making friends up and down the street. I've seen what a tremendous difference it makes."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***