“Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.”
For this episode of The Uniters, I visited Wood County community grantee, Habitat for Humanity of Wood County and interviewed Executive Director Mark Ohashi.
Habitat for Humanity of Wood County is an affiliate organization that helps Wood County residents access decent and affordable housing. They offer two programs, the Homeownership Program and Home Repair Program.
The Homeownership Program allows folks the opportunity to purchase homes through an affordable mortgage created with Habitat or another agency. Habitat homeowners must complete 250 hours of “sweat equity,” (volunteer hours spent helping to complete the repair project) including helping to build their own homes, attending educational workshops and helping the affiliate with events and fundraisers.
United Way Grant-Supported Program
The Home Repair Program has been helping Wood County residents since 2015. Habitat for Humanity of Wood County has been helping homeowners make critical health and safety-related repairs at an affordable cost to the homeowner. With the $20,000 that they received from United Way, they will be able to help more homeowners with essential repairs.
In order, to qualify for the program homeowners must meet eligibility guidelines including:
- Applicants must own their homes. Habitat does not provide home repairs for apartment or rentals.
- Applicants are required to have lived in their homes for at least 1 year. Habitat does not provide repairs to homes people are planning to move into or sell.
- Applicants must reside in Wood County, Ohio.
- Applicants cannot have a lien on their property.
- Additional eligibility requirements may apply (please contact our office for further details).
If you are a Wood County resident and would like to learn more and apply for the Home Owner Repair program, visit their site or call them at 419-481-8100.
Lastly, to stay up-to-date with Habitat for Humanity of Wood County, you can connect with them on Facebook or Instagram. Call 2-1-1 or check out the 2-1-1 Database to learn about other housing-related resources.
