South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity Swings Hammers for Hardworking Families

habitat for humanity
Saturdays see as many as 20 to 25 volunteers swinging hammers at South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity build sites.
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Habitat for Humanity’s affordable housing provides low-income families with access to decent, safe homes.

Here in Thurston County, South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity is on a mission to ensure that everyone has access to safe, decent, affordable places to live. By partnering with hardworking families, generous community partners and countless volunteers, South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity has been able to help local families — who normally wouldn’t qualify for a traditional home loan — start on the path to homeownership. And they’ve been doing this for more than 26 years.

Since its inception in 1989, South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity has helped many families become homeowners. And over the years, the organization has celebrated several milestones, but none as exciting as the completion of its 50th house. Located in Lacey’s Wood’s Glen housing development, the completion of South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity’s 50th house is a sign of things to come.

Wood’s Glen is a 5-acre development in Lacey that, when completed, will feature 33 homes in total and will be one of the largest Habitat for Humanity communities in Washington State. South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity Marketing/Outreach Supervisor, Shawna Dutton, says there will be three different types of houses featured at Wood’s Glen, including Bungalows (two bedrooms, one bath), Cottages (three bedrooms, one bath), and Houses (four bedrooms, two baths). All of the houses are built using sustainable, eco-friendly practices.

habitat for humanity
Saturdays see as many as 20 to 25 volunteers swinging hammers at South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity build sites.

“We’re so proud of the fact that we’re completing our 50th home at our development in Lacey,” says Dutton. But as South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity continues to build, 50 will soon turn into 100. “We’re on pace to build five houses per year,” she says. Wood’s Glen is on track to be completed by the year 2020.

More houses means South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity can serve more. “We have three families that currently reside in Wood’s Glen,” says Dutton. One of the families — a mom, dad and their son — had always lived with other family members, moving from house-to-house. Now, at Wood’s Glen, mom, dad and their son always have a comfortable, safe place to come home to, and their son even has his own bedroom and a place to ride his bike.

Dutton says these are the kinds of transitions South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity is all about.

For one single mother of two young girls, Dutton says the difference in owning a Habitat home versus moving from place to place is that her girls always have a place to come back to — a sense of stability that will support them on their journey through the trials and tribulations of their teen years.

habitat humanity
This year, South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity will celebrating the completion of its 50th house in Thurston County.

Dutton says South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity is currently accepting applications and invites community members who dream of homeownership — but don’t qualify for a traditional home loan — to apply. South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity selects its homeowners based on whether or not the applicant has a need for better housing, has the ability to pay a Habitat mortgage, and is willing to partner with Habitat and complete a minimum of 250 “sweat equity” hours.

Applying for a Habitat for Humanity home is essentially like applying for a home loan. But don’t worry – South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity has partnered with Anchor Bank so that Habitat for Humanity staff can help walk applicants through the process, hand-in-hand, so that they can complete their applications with ease. “The Anchor Bank Partner Plus program helps our staff provide a higher level of customer service for our applicants,” says Dutton.

If you or someone you know sounds like they could qualify for a Habitat home, Dutton recommends attending a South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity’s homebuyer orientation. You can learn more about South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity, the application process, how to get involved as a volunteer, and much, much more by visiting South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity’s website, or by visiting South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity’s Facebook page.

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