The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Tana Sproat and Anna Morrison now have homes they can call their own. Tana and Anna are two single moms who are proud to be new home owners, thanks to Sisters Habitat for Humanity.

The dedication took place on Sunday, August 13, and marked the 13th and 14th Habitant homes constructed in Sisters.

At the ceremony, it was noted that the project took almost six months to the day from ground breaking to occupancy.

The homes are actually zero lot line dwellings -- or duplexes. Each home is about 960 square feet, with two bedrooms, one bath, and a single car garage.

Sharlene Weed, the executive director for Sisters Habitat for Humanity explained, "We try to put quality in these homes, so they don't fall apart. The people we serve generally don't have the financial means to be fixing things all the time."

Habitat for Humanity is an international Christian organization dedicated to eliminating poverty by partnering with families in need for the purpose of providing affordable housing.

Thousands of volunteer hours both on the construction site and in the Habitat Thrift Store helped provide the opportunity of home ownership to two more Sisters families.

Forty-seven people in Sisters now have a home of their own, thanks to Habitat.

Weed explained that the organization has three conditions for people to qualify for their housing program:

1. The family must have a need for shelter. This could be due to overcrowding, or living in dilapidated conditions.

2. The family must demonstrate an ability to pay the mortgage. A general rule is that the mortgage be 25 percent to 60 percent of the gross income of the family. A stable job history is also a prerequisite, and the family must live or work within the Sisters School District.

Mortgage payments generally range about $400 a month, including taxes and insurance.

3. There must be a willingness on the part of the family to partner with Habitat for Humanity. This takes a certain amount of flexibility, as the location and time of completion of the next project is uncertain.

Five hundred hours of sweat equity are required by the partnering family.

Habitat for Humanity holds the mortgage and charges zero interest. This combination allows for those who could not otherwise purchase a home to do so. The mortgage payments that Habitat receives allow the organization to acquire land and begin the construction of the next project.

"This is the best thing that's ever happened to me," Tana Sproat said of her new home.

Anna added, "I realized through this experience how many nice people there are in this town."