Habitat hosts dinner, fund raising auction

The Washington Area Habitat for Humanity held its annual dinner Thursday night, which was followed by an auction. The dinner and auction were at the United Methodist Church in Washington. The attendees ate pork loins, potatoes, corn, gelatin and many varieties of pie. The uneaten pork loins and pie were auctioned off after the meal by auctioneer Greg Giardino.

The auction is one of two main sources of Habitat?s revenue, the other one being its annual soup supper. Among its auctioned items were such diverse elements as a drill, a cooking pot, a basket of wine and cheese, birdhouses, wooden chairs and a large blanket. The blanket features what appears to be a man carrying a weapon and a shield and wearing a headdress and a cape. Habitat Vice President Jim Cluney told the audience that there was a story behind the blanket, but that he would only tell the story to the person who bought the blanket. Rita and Rodney Stogdill purchased the blanket and promptly asked Cluney for the accompanying story. Cluney said that, in reality, he did not know the story, but said there had to be a good one.

Habitat ordinarily selects a few families per year who are in need of a home. Habitat helps build and finance the home. Cluney remarked that the house is not simply given to the family as a gift.

?Contrary to what people say, it?s not free to the family,? he said. ?They have to put in so many hours of sweat equity.?

The family must contribute 200 hours per family member. The family?s friends can fulfill a portion of that requirement, but only up to 50 hours.

Habitat President Terry Miller remarked, ?If the family members do it themselves, they?re more apt to take care of the house because they helped build it.?

To qualify for a Habitat home, one of the family members must have a job he or she can use to pay back the loan for the house. Habitat provides the loan interest-free, and trains the family on how to manage their finances to make the mortgage payments on time.

Miller said, ?We do this for someone who needs a home and doesn?t have anything other than a job, or is renting in bad conditions.?

Once the financing is in place, Habitat volunteers help the family construct its house.

?There?s something every volunteer can do, whether it?s marking materials or handing them to someone else to nail up,? said Cluney. ?Something we?re going to try to do on this next build is have a ladies? day. We?ll set aside a day just for the ladies.?

Miller, who runs a construction business, said he?s glad to teach his craft to anyone who wants to learn.

?We are always working with people who are frightened to do this kind of thing, but they want to get in there and help,? he said. ?We stick them next to someone who?s had some experience.?

Cluney and the other senior members of Habitat train the volunteers in how to perform their jobs.

?People have walked away saying it was good for them to have a hands-on experience,? said Cluney. ?It helped not just the new homeowners but also the whole community by bringing everyone together.?

Cluney is the group?s site supervisor, which means he?s in charge of overseeing the construction. He said there are normally 25 to 30 volunteers who turn out on any given construction day, although he has had as many as 90 in a single day.

?For a while, the banks sent their workers to the Habitat for Humanity sites,? said Cluney. ?It was a competition between the banks, to see who could provide the most hours of support.?

Miller said Habitat has had a difficult time finding applicants of late. He said a house is not something people think to ask for, even if it?s what they need.