Alabama Habitats Celebrates 2000th Home

In its 20th year, the Alabama sociation of Habitat Affiliates (AAHA) is commemorating the completion of its 2,000th home-built by Habitat for Humanity (HFH) of Southwest Alabama for the Niyongabo family of Mobile.

The four-bedroom home on Roslyn Drive in Mobile is a far cry from the refugee camps of South Africa where the family used to live.

Niyongabo Jacques was born in the Congo after his parents fled in 1972 to the neighboring country from their native Burundi, in East Africa, where brutal ethnic wars had erupted. It was there that he met and married Masoka Jeannette, who was also born in the Congo.

In 1999, ethnic tensions flared again and Jacques and Jeannette were forced to flee to Tanzania. There, they lived in mud houses with grass rooftops in the crowded refugee camps. Basic life requirements such as food, clothing and work were scarce. Three of their four children were born in these conditions.

Jacques and Jeannette and their children were able to relocate to the United States in 2007 as part of an American initiative to aid Burundians displaced in Tanzania during the war. They resettled in Mobile in a substandard home in a neighborhood unsafe for their children to play outside. All of that changed when their Habitat home was dedicated on June 23.

“The kids feel very good to get a place they can call home and have their own address,” said Jacques.

Because Habitat for Humanity believes in giving families in need a “hand up” not a “hand out.” Habitat homeowners are required to invest 300-400 hours of sweat equity building their own home and homes for other people. Because the homes are built primarily by volunteers and financed with no-profit, no-interest loans, the mortgage payments can be kept reasonable to those unable to obtain conventional financing for a home.

The Alabama Association of Habitat Affiliates, representing 36 affiliates across the state, is responsible for 2,000 such homes during the 20 years since its creation. “This just shows what a really beautiful spirit of serving that our state has,” said Arc Pearce, AAHA executive director.

Alabama Housing Finance Authority (AHFA) will purchase the Niyongabo loan from HFH of Southwest Alabama as part of its HFH Loan Purchase Program.

Through this program, AHFA purchases mortgage loans from the state's Habitat affiliates – which allows them to receive the loan amount up front in a lump sum while AHFA receives the monthly payments from the affiliates for the life of the loan. The affiliates can then use the up­front funds to build more housing for low-income families.

To date, AHFA has committed nearly $20.5 million to this program, purchasing 450 loans.

In 30 years, Habitat for Humanity International has built more than 225,000 homes in more than 3,000 communities around the world. HFH of Southwest Alabama was founded in 1988 and has built more than 200 homes locally.