Our Habitat, Building Their Future: By Matthew Whittle

Picture Caption:

T’Sharra Williams hammers in the final nails into her home in LaGrange during a July ceremony.

Each September hope springs anew at Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne. That’s because this is when we take applications for our next round of future homeowners.

Every year we have hundreds and hundreds of people who begin the application process, each in want and in need of a better place to live – a safe, stable, affordable home.

But Habitat is not a giveaway program and we do not accept all applicants. There are qualifications that each approved family must meet. They must live in Wayne or Lenoir counties. They must have a housing need. They must fall within our accepted income range. They must be able to afford our mortgage payments based on their current debt load. And they must be willing to partner with us.

It's not the easiest application process to get through and each year, about 90% of those who begin an application don’t finish it or are quickly determined to be out of the area or out of the income range.

Of those who do turn in a complete application, another 90% or so are turned down, most of them because of credit and debt complications.

But for those who make it all the way through, it is the beginning of a partnership journey that will give them the opportunity to build a better future for themselves. And for those who don’t make it, Habitat is here to help get them ready for next year because we believe that everyone deserves a safe, stable, decent and affordable place to call their own.