Habitat at Arts Festival
Spreading the word on affordable housing.
Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity offered an up close and personal look at its mission at the recent Des Moines Arts Festival. “We couldn’t believe all the people who sat each day and watched the progress being made,” says Jenna Ekstrom, Executive Vice President for Strategy for Habitat. “People just love to watch our volunteers make an impact.”
Indeed, Habitat’s professional team and volunteers have. This year will mark 500 homes built in the past 37 years, along with more than 2,500 home repairs. “Since 1986 we have served 3,000-plus families,” she says. Homes have been built in the counties of Polk, Dallas, and Jasper.
This is not the first year Habitat has made a large public showing. It’s the seventh time for the Arts Festival, plus two for the Iowa State Fair in 2005 and 2022.
Says Ekstrom: “To be in front of tens of thousands of people we might never get in front of is huge. That is why we like to do one of these Blitz Builds somewhere different every year. It always brings interest.” This year’s house brought the buyer to the festival, a woman named Leke, mother of five children.
With emphasis on affordable housing, Ekstrom explains that homes are not “given” to partner families. Families pay for the homes with low-cost loans, never paying more than 30% of their monthly income. “With their monthly mortgage payments and support from the community, Habitat builds more homes,” she notes.
HOW IT WORKS
It works this way. There’s an in-house construction staff. Certain tasks are completed by contractors. Volunteers fill in for much of the rest of the work force. “Some are regulars; some are first-timers. Like all industries, since the COVID pandemic our volunteer numbers are down. Everyone can do something. You don’t have to be a master builder to participate,” Ekstrom points out. “We will teach volunteers a construction task they are willing to learn.”
The Habitat program began in rural Georgia, where black and white individuals started working together and wanted each other to experience home ownership. Former President Jimmy Carter has given the program a very visible public face over many years.
The program sees about 20 interested households reach out each week. It starts with a consultation during which households are provided a pathway. Some are ready to purchase a home, and some aren’t quite there. The latter group might experience some home ownership education or credit counseling before making a formal program application.
The Arts Festival build called for 110 volunteers in three shifts per day. At the end of the Festival, the completed exterior of the home was moved to the foundation on the 1900 block of E. Walnut Street, east of the Iowa Capitol.
“How do we position affordable housing?” Ekstrom asks. “In addition to the Arts Festival and the Iowa State Fair, the group has built homes at HomeShowExpo and the Capitol grounds.”
NEW APPROACH
Ekstrom says that Habitat has also expanded its scope on the homes it builds. For example, duplexes have been built in Ankeny, and 48 townhouses are planned for Waukee. Habitat bases many of its homes on five or six house plans. “If we build a home in River Bend, for example, with all its two-story Queen Anne-style homes, we wouldn’t build a one-story home. We would build a two-story in keeping more with the character of the neighborhood.”
What happens when circumstances change and a homeowner must move? “Often we are able to purchase the house back and renovate and redevelop it for a next owner,” says Ekstrom.
And what happens when building costs keep rising? “We don’t pass along that increase to the homeowners,” Ekstrom says. “We rely more on fund-raising and community partnerships as well as efficient designs.” Proceeds from the Habitat ReStore locations also help fund Habitat’s work.
The group’s mantra is direct: “Our vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live.”
Habitat for Humanity
95 University Avenue, Suite 1
Des Moines, IA 50314
515-471-8686
East Euclid ReStore
2200 E. Euclid Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50317
515-650-6827
Urbandale ReStore
4033 NW Urbandale Drive
Urbandale, IA 50322
515-650-6828