Dallas Habitat for Humanity started building a home with volunteers this week for the first time since the pandemic led to stay-at-home orders. Earlier this year, the organization continued building homes but had to hire subcontractors.
This week, about 20 volunteers from Park Place Dealerships joined Habitat building a home in the Joppa neighborhood of southern Dallas.
"When you donate your own personal time and invest your own sweat-equity in the process, that is phenomenal," says Tony Carimi, managing director of Park Place. "But to be able to do it side-by-side with the family who is going to be able to reap those benefits, that is what it's all about."
Carimi says a total of 160 volunteers will work with Habitat for Humanity over the next ten weeks.
The house is being built for the Salmeron family.
"It's amazing to have a place of our own, to call our own, it's just amazing," says Rosemary Salmeron.
Salmeron and her husband will participate in the building of the house.
"I'm pretty nervous but also excited to see the progress on the house from start to finish," Wilbur Salmeron says.
This year, Dallas Habitat says 175 people have started going through the process to get a home. Of those 175, Chief Executive David Crawford says many will go through financial counseling and workshops but buy a home on their own.
"Part of our mission is making sure anyone who comes through our financial qualification and counseling center, they don't have to buy a Habitat home. We want to make sure they're qualified to buy a home whether it's Habitat or not," he says.
The house in Joppa is the 11th being built this year by Habitat for Humanity; Crawford says a dozen more will be completed before the end of the year. He says about a hundred families have moved into the Joppa neighborhood through Habitat for Humanity over the last seven years.
"We try to, upon closing, make sure there's a community of people to welcome the family into the neighborhood," he says. "We are committed to not only the build process but to the stability of the community and families we've been able to serve."
Crawford also credits a partnership with the City of Dallas in helping the organization succeed. Sales tax revenue across Texas was 6.1% lower in September than in September 2019, and the unemployment rate was 6.8% in August, up from 3.5% in August 2019.
"The city helps Habitat, too. We're able to buy lots through the city's land bank and then convert that to a home," he says. "That takes the burden off the city, puts a new home on the lot and the family becomes a tax-paying member of our community. It's a wonderful partnership we have with the city."
Crawford says people living in Habitat homes have generated about $5 million in property tax revenue for Dallas County.
