A dream will come true for Jennifer and Kennedy Bell on May 28th as they are officially welcomed to their new home. Deschutes County Commissioner Tammy Baney will be on hand along with Housing Works Board member, Michael Hinton, Bend Area Habitat Executive Director David Love, and other community partners and volunteers at the dedication ceremony of the newly constructed home on McKinley Street in Bend.
The 3-bedroom, 2 ˝ bath home is being offered for sale to the Bells through an innovative collaboration of the Bend Area Habitat for Humanity and Housing Works. The aim of the partnership is to create a greater number of home ownership opportunities that are attainable to Bend's lower to moderate income residents.
“We are excited to work with Habitat for Humanity to help the Bells, and hopefully many more families in the future, realize their dream of homeownership,” said Michael Hinton. “It is important for organizations to work together to provide opportunities like this for residents of Central Oregon.”
The shared effort builds on the proven successes of both organizations. The home was constructed utilizing the highly successful Habitat model of using volunteers to help lower costs. In this innovative new partnership, Housing Works purchases the home from Habitat at an affordable price. The proceeds of the sale are used to help subsidize other Habitat homes that can then be offered for sale at an affordable price to lower-income households. The housing authority makes the new home part of its land-lease program. A family like the Bells who are participating in the HomeQuest homeownership program then buys the home but the land, retained by Housing Works, is leased long-term to the homebuyer.
“This is similar to a land trust,” says Hinton, “but without a lot of the complications.”
Housing Works utilizes a subsidy retention model for its HomeQuest program as a way to ensure its investment has a lasting impact for the community. This model is based on the simple idea that, in exchange for assistance in purchasing a house, the buyer agrees to a restricted future resale price. With the housing authority’s ground lease model, the home would remain affordable for many families in the years to come.
The dedication celebration will be held at 306 SW McKinley Avenue in Bend at 4:30 p.m.
Both the Bend Area Habitat for Humanity and Housing Works has been successful in creating a variety of opportunities for lower and moderate income homeowners. Habitat is currently celebrating its 20th Anniversary. Since its beginnings in 1989 it has constructed 78 homes. Housing Works' Family Self-Sufficiency program has helped support over 25 families in Habitat homes over the past decade.
