Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 24, 1992 TAG: 9202240124
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
THEY OPENED THEIR HOME TO HANDS THAT BUILT IT
It's rainy, there's no grass in the yard yet, you've got a full night of furniture moving ahead and more than 100 people are trooping to the door wanting to walk on the carpet in your brand-new house.Some people might be tempted to keep the door closed, turn out the lights and pretend no one's home.
But Gary and Valerie Bradford just put some plastic down and were delighted to show everybody in.
After all, most of the visitors hammered nails, brushed paint, installed cabinets, put up siding or otherwise volunteered their labor to make the Bradford's first home possible.
The volunteers are the people who make Habitat for Humanity work.
Sunday was dedication day for the first of what Habitat officials hope will be 10 new houses the organization will build this year.
Habitat President William S. Hubard said plans for five more houses are nearly complete - three to go up alongside the Bradfords' on Miami Street Southeast and two in Northwest Roanoke.
Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit Christian housing ministry that has sponsored the construction of more than 10,000 homes for the working poor in the United States and overseas since 1977.
Volunteers provide labor and raise between $5,000 and $15,000 toward the cost of materials, Hubard said. Other funds are found to cover the rest of the approximately $20,000 to $23,000 total cost of materials.
This year, the 5-year-old Roanoke Habitat affiliate will need to raise about $192,000, Hubard said.
The Bradford house project was sponsored by Lutheran Cooperative Ministries and Roanoke College.
Between the start of construction in November and completion earlier this month, more than 130 volunteers worked on the house, according to the Rev. Kenneth Lane, project coordinator and pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church.
That included a smattering of Roanoke College students, who have their own Habitat chapter, said the Rev. Paul Henrickson, adviser to that group and the college's chaplain.
The students are active not only with Roanoke Valley Habitat projects, but serve as volunteers in other regions as well. For instance, he said, 27 students and eight faculty and staff members will travel to Columbia, S.C., over spring break to build a Habitat house.
Most of the volunteers were members of 10 Roanoke Valley churches, including a core of retired people who helped coordinate the efforts of others. The churches also raised at least $15,000 to pay for materials.
Among the builders were the new owners, who were presented their keys and a Bible just before the blessing of the house by representatives of the sponsoring churches.
The Bradfords put about 180 hours of work into the construction, fulfilling more than half of their obligation of 300 hours of labor to Habitat projects.
The couple's two sons - T.J., 14, and J.D., 10 - also worked hard, their dad said.
Gary and Valerie will be helping in the next two projects - scheduled to go up right next door beginning in April. The Virlina District of the Church of the Brethren will be providing volunteers for those houses. A third house, possibly to be built by a United Methodist group, will go up at the end of the street.
Miami Street is now lined with Habitat housing, and some of the Bradfords' neighbors also worked on this latest project.
Habitat has prospective owners lined up for the next few houses, but it is always looking for new applicants, Hubard said.
"We estimate there are about 1,000 families in the valley who would qualify," he said in an interview after the dedication.
Families must have an income of approximately four times the mortgage payment - usually $8,000 to $16,000 a year - be gainfully employed, and have at least one child.
"The reason for the requirement to have a child is to try and help two generations at once," Hubard said.
As the agency matures, Hubard said, it is finding itself able to help more and more families. The hiring of a part-time employee - Alison Weaver - to take care of much of the paperwork and other chores also has helped.
Ultimately, though, it is the volunteers who make Habitat work. Henrickson said another Habitat official once explained to him that the projects really build a sense of togetherness and community - a house just happens to go up as well.
"There is no greater gift than this that you can ever get," Gary Bradford said as the last visitors were leaving his new home.