Lunch With Good People: Habitat For Humanity

OldSouth doesn't generally 'do' fund-raiser events. Bad food, bad company, manipulative presentation by people he doesn't have any reason to trust.

But he made an exception yesterday for a luncheon for Habitat for Humanity, which is successfully building some local houses and placing candidates in them.

A small local bank footed the bill for the luncheon, and every table sponsor filled his table. A few old friends were on hand. The local Democrat State Legislator was there, as was the mayor, who looked worried and needed to lose about a hundred pounds. Stress. I would guess most of the attendees would not have voted for the Democrat State Legislator, but no one seemed to care. The attendees were greeted by two recipients of houses, who had graduated from the arduous life-skills program. One mom with a ten-year old boy let the boy write the speech and do the delivery. He was nervous, but the kid can ByGod write English. One was a lifelong polio victim, now sixty-three, in safe housing for the first time in a quarter-century. Short, sweet, to the point. You did this, I did that, and this good resulted.

In the buffet line, I met one of the bankers, and asked the impolite question: 'How many of these folks use these as step-up houses until they can move on to something bigger?' He paused and said, 'I'd have to look it up, but my experience is that they tend to stay in them. They're good houses, in good neighborhoods.'

It was a good antidote to the sleaze parade of the previous week. The checkbook came out. The ten-year old kid with a passion for words sold me. He's likely to make a really good life, because all those lumpy-looking 'church people' that people like Rahm Emanuel despise so heartily give their time and resources.

It might be tougher to do, and OS isn't the guy to do it, but seems like this could be a good model for some other societal challenges, like affordable provision of health care and education. Cooperative, ground-level, efficient, voluntary, accountable, non-political...

Green Shoots Award Nominee--Habitat for Humanity

This piece of happy news from Miller-McCune, about Habitat's program to renovate foreclosed houses for client families.

Good points include:  They are buying the properties at about 60% discount to the foreclosed mortgage balance, i.e., at close to realistic prices, and forcing the haircut onto the lenders.

They rehabilitate, and sell to pre-qualified (as in, employed, non-drug culture) clients. Clients must invest substantial sweat equity into their homes, as well as show financial stability. No 'gimmees' here.  Habitat holds the mortgage, and plows profits back in to the program. 

It resembles the old-style Savings and Loan business model.  Savers saved for the down payment, lived stable lives, and became known quantities to the S & L officers before a mortgage was written. 

That way, everybody prospered! (Heavens, what a concept!!)

The foreclosure rate on Habitat homes is under 2%.

The only bit that gives pause is the use of Federal stimulus money.  This good thing is fraught with moral hazard, as it could easily become a slush fund to bail out irresponsible crony lenders, or as a way to hand out political patronage to the politically connected.  Were that to happen, it would eventually be exposed,  devastate Habitat, and probably destroy it, as the charity relies upon legions of volunteers (mainly from churches) to provide labor and materials. Loss of credibility = demise.

Fingers crossed, and three cheers!