A decent home in a decent community...

At Loudoun Habitat for Humanity we build more than houses...we transform lives. As an organization, our goal is to eliminate poverty and homelessness from our county by building adequate and basic housing for those in need.

In Loudoun County, we have been working towards that goal by facilitating the dream of homeownership for 17 families over the last 9 years who would not have been able to do it on their own. As our mission continues, we are ensuring that all of our words and actions are for the ultimate purpose of putting shelter on the hearts and minds of everyone in our community. Our main wish is for poverty housing to become socially, politically and religiously unacceptable in Northern Virginia and throughout the world.

 

To those who call Loudoun home, it’s no mystery why families choose to live in this County, despite its lack of affordable housing. Loudoun County is a dynamic area which offers an outstanding quality of life to most of its residents.  Loudoun has established its reputation as an international center for technology, communications and transportation. It offers high quality services to its citizens, including a first-rate educational system.  It is widely known for its beautiful scenery, rich history and strong sense of community, the element which drives our affiliate to “provide a decent home in a decent community for God’s people in need.” For though it boasts a high per capita income and a very low unemployment rate, the many individuals and families who fall well below this affluent standard are left with little opportunity to experience the “American dream.”  And so the gap, now recognized nationwide, widens still more in Loudoun County, the second fastest growing county in the U.S.  

Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors recently commissioned a housing study which projects a shocking shortage of 30,000 affordable housing units by year 2030—units which would house workers in construction, transportation, warehousing, government, and retail industries.  While Loudoun is to be applauded for its efforts to help these workers, it is not enough and requires the assistance of the non-profit sector as well.  Consequently, for the many whose income falls well into the lower (30% to 50%) end of the average pre capita income scale, qualification by conventional financing which enables home ownership is less likely. This niche of folks is that from which applicants to Loudoun Habitat for Humanity originate.

We are excited to be continuing our mission as we move forth with our goal to build 5 more houses by 2010. We have embraced the changing times and have overcome many challenges and we are proud to say that we have started construction on our next project, the Erin Peterson subdvision in St. Louis, VA.  Upon its completion and thanks to your help, 5 more deserving families will have homes to call their own, thus bringing us one step closer in our mission to provide simple, decent and affordable housing to those in need.

Thus the need to continue to raise funds to build these families' homes, for without that nothing will get started.  Government funding, corporate grants, and church support are all dwindling in this tight economy, so we need to move to other sources.  Habitat ReStores, over 500 of them nationwide, have proven to be a great source of income for Habitat affiliates and allow them to continue building.  We are opening the 21st ReStore in Virginia, and hope to generate enough income from this operation to build 2-3 homes per year at least in Loudoun county.