Evergreen Habitat for Humanity to build next home in Washougal

Evergreen Habitat for Humanity (EHFH) has announced it will build its next house in Washougal. “Washougal is an incredible community, a growing community. We’re so excited to come to (here),” EHFH Chief Executive Officer Josh Townsely said in a Facebook video. “We’ve done some repairs out here in the past for homeowners who were looking for help putting in wheelchair ramps or siding or painting or those kinds of things, but this will be our first home (project) in Washougal, and hopefully we’ll do many more in the future.” The Vancouver-based nonprofit will begin work on a single-family, four-bedroom house, “nestled in the town of Washougal off of ‘H’ Street,” this summer, according to the group’s chief operating officer, Lindsi Smith. “We’re super excited. We’ve done some home repairs in Washougal and have always been interested in expanding our impact in Washougal,” Smith said. “We love the community and wanted to have a bigger presence. We had this opportunity where a family came to us and had this piece of property, and the timing was just absolutely perfect, so we jumped on the opportunity to purchase that site, and we’ll be building our first home there.” EHFH has provided affordable home ownership opportunities to Clark County residents for more than 30 years, according to Smith. “Habitat homeowners help build their own home alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage,” the EHFH website states. “With our help, Habitat homeowners achieve the strength, stability and independence they need to build a better life for themselves and their families.” EHFH typically builds two- to five-bedroom wood-frame homes, approximately 900 to 1,500 square feet, with amenities such as electric or gas ranges, refrigerators and dishwashers. “Once the plans are approved, we’ll be able to announce what that (Washougal) home looks like,” said EHFH Marketing Director Leah Middleton. “And, obviously, the family that goes through our homeownership program will have an opportunity to also get an idea of what that looks like at the end.” To apply, prospective homeowners must attend an orientation session, then submit a pre-application form, which will be processed in order of receipt until all available homes have a qualified buyer. Along with the pre-application form, applicants are asked to submit additional information such as pay stubs, bank statements and tax returns. EHFH staff will use that information, as well as information from the pre-application form and a credit report, to determine the applicant’s eligibility. “We are open now year-round for applications, so we are always trying to spread the word about that, that we want families to apply to our program,” Smith said. “(The Washougal) family has not been selected yet, so we are on the hunt for that family.” EHFH asks its prospective homeowners to put in a specific number of volunteer hours, either on their own home or another EHFH project, and invites community members to participate in its home-builds. “This (Washougal home will be) similar to our other projects, but an incredible amount of volunteer hours will go into this home,” Smith said. “We’re going to be seeking local residents and groups and anybody in the Washougal area who (might be) interested in being a part of this build. We’ll really be looking to the community to help with the volunteer hours. We only have two construction staff members on our team, so we depend on an incredible number of volunteer hours to help actually complete the build.” The Washougal house will also serve as part of EHFH’s goal of assisting 100 home buyers within the next three years. “There is such a need for affordable housing and specifically affordable homeownership,” Smith said. “We know that we are at a critical time and place, and just want to expand our impact. We have grown really significantly over the past couple of years, building capacity so that we can be at this place to serve more and more families than we ever had before. “More than ever, with rising rent prices, rising prices for everything that families need, there’s such a need,” she continued. “Truly, the dream of homeownership is out of reach for so many families, and specifically, income-qualified families or low-income families. We see that our place in this is just so important to serve families.” For more information about volunteer opportunities, visit ehfh.org.

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