Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Habitat for Humanity

[Fred H. Olson (fholson]

Scott Crowley scowley [at] alex.lib.utah.edu
is the author of the message below but due to a problem it was posted
by the Fred the list manager: owner-cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org
--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------

Habitat for Humanity is an odd cat.
Each state has a separate organization, with accomplishments varying wildly.
Here in Utah it is closely allied with the archdiocese of Salt Lake.  They 
build only
a couple of houses a year.  All the materials and land are donated.
One of the biggest problems they face is in getting the new homeowners to 
follow through
on the commitment they make of X (500 ?) hours of labor toward the next house.
Suddenly, the previous renter with a couple of jobs and kids finds him/herself 
with
house payments to make.
This is where cohousing seems to make a huge amount of sense.  Supportive 
(though
nondenomenational) community. The new homeowner could leave kids with neighbors 
while s/he goes
over to help the next house get built.  I don't know why our local Habitat has 
been so unresponsive
except for the fact that our project isn't a roman catholic project.