By Jan and Craig Akers
Powhatan Habitat for Humanity

If you think the actions of Congress have no direct, local impact, think again.  Believe it or not, the budget squabbles in Washington, D.C. are hurting the mission of your local Habitat for Humanity chapter, and making a tough economy even more challenging. 

Habitat-Powhatan needs your donation to help us through this extremely difficult economy.  Consider this situation, and see if you are able to help.

After months of orientation meetings, interviews, screening applications and financial reports, the Habitat-Powhatan Family Selection Committee identified four deserving local families to receive a new Habitat home. The family selected first also qualified for a USDA Rural Development loan, which would enable Habitat to build the house without holding the mortgage on the property. The USDA fund would pay Habitat for the land and construction of the home and hold the mortgage. In these tough economic times, this USDA money was a way for Habitat to continue providing affordable homes to qualifying, lower-income families. Construction was set to begin in March on a lot in the Holly Hills subdivision. Volunteers were all lined up to build the house, and excitement was high

Now here is where Congress comes into play. Until the budget issues are all resolved, the USDA Rural Development fund is out of money, and no further loans will be made until Congress re-funds the USDA. So Terry Paquette, Executive Director of Habitat-Powhatan, had to tell the selected family they would probably not be getting a new home as soon as we first thought.

Like other rural chapters, Habitat-Powhatan faces many challenges. We are not allowed to solicit donations – corporate or private – from outside Powhatan County. While we have wonderful support from area churches, we have no large churches with large budgets, like some that support more urban chapters. One bright spot is that through Manakin Episcopal Church, we enjoy a relationship with the Bon Air Friends of Habitat.

Additionally, Powhatan suffers from a lack of large corporate donors; there are no Capital One’s or Alcoa’s in the county. The same for large numbers of wealthy individual donors, compared to areas like Charlottesville and Richmond.

We have received generous donations of professional time and talents, but the downturn in the home-building industry, in general, means that we are not receiving the amount of donated materials we saw a few years ago. So we have to buy more, making the houses more expensive to build. Add to all this the fact that land is expensive in Powhatan and home sites require wells and septic systems. Some lots require engineered septic systems, driving costs up even further.

All of this brings us to the point that Habitat-Powhatan needs the help of our friends and neighbors in the county. The need for affordable housing is with us every day, and we have the dedicated talents to meet that need.

We need YOU to help with a badly needed donation. Your financial contribution will be hugely appreciated, and it will go a long way toward providing safety and stability to an area family. You may never realize the full impact you have, but years from now, a family will still be living in a home you helped provide.

My Point of View welcomes submissions that pertain to life and issues in Powhatan County. The views expressed in the column are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the editorial views of the staff of Powhatan Today.