Community Involvement Starts at Home
Jean Wussow
Public Affairs Associate
Public Affairs
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
Team up with your members of Congress and others to participate in “The Houses That Congress Built.”
Is your association looking for a way to increase community involvement?Participating in “The Houses That Congress Built--an effort to highlight the importance and benefits of affordable housing through the building of a Habitat for Humanity house in every congressional district in 1998--is a great way for your association to show it cares about the community. The project involves a partnership of the U.S. House of Representatives, Habitat for Humanity International, and more than 30 national housing-related organizations, including the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.
Lend a Hand to Affordable Housing
The project gained life when members of the House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution in May 1997 declaring that every American deserves a decent, affordable place to live. Several representatives, including Speaker Newt Gingrich, worked with Habitat for Humanity to build two houses in the District of Columbia last summer.
Since then, the project has expanded into the largest effort of its type--an attempt to build a Habitat house in all 435 congressional districts. The goal is to have all representatives, with hammer in hand, in their own congressional district on June 6 helping build a Habitat house. This effort will kick off National Home Ownership Week, June 6–13. For details on how to start the project in your area, read “The Building Blocks to Get You Started,” below.
Why Build Low-Income Housing?
Those of you who've worked with your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate to build an affordable house for a low-income family know the social benefits of helping people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to own a home gain a solid place in the community. Homeownership, especially when earned through sweat equity, has a lasting impact on the residents and the neighborhood.
This effort says that by working together--Congress lenders, REALTORS®, homebuilders, nonprofit organizations, and others--we can strengthen our communities. We can show that people who are given a chance at homeownership succeed as stable members of society.
More Than Just a House
Your association can benefit in several ways from involvement in “The Houses That Congress Built.” One is the positive publicity the association will get in the community for working to make a Habitat or other “self-help” house happen. You can emphasize that REALTORS® care about the community and share a stake in its future.
Also, the local partnerships formed between your association and local organizations can continue after the houses have been completed. You may be able to work together on other community-related efforts.
The relationship between your association and lawmakers can be enhanced. Lawmakers may be more willing to listen to REALTOR® concerns knowing that the association is integral to the future of the community.
Your association can also benefit from the project's publicity--whether it be the groundbreaking for the Habitat house, the dedication of the home to its new owners, or high-profile members of your community building alongside your representative.
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The Building Blocks to Get You Started
Wondering how your association can gain the lead in “The Houses That Congress Built” in your community? It's easy. Here are six steps to get the project going.
1.Call your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and find out whether it's planning to participate in “The Houses That C ongress Built” project. Chances are it may already be committed. In some districts there are no Habitat affiliates, but the Housing Assistance Council and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp. have offered to build a similar “self-help” house.
2.Encourage your representative to join in the effort. Having the representative on board can help involve community resources as well as bring publicity to the project.
3.Meet with the Habitat affiliate to discuss what will be needed to make the construction happen. How much will it cost? Has a site been selected? What construction materials are needed? How many volunteers?
4.Establish a plan to address all the needs of the affiliate, including fund-raising, construction materials, and publicity.
5.Involve your membership.REALTORS® have many contacts in the community and may enjoy the opportunity to do some fund-raising or help build a house.
6.Bring as many local resources as possible into the project. Ask building suppliers to donate materials. Talk to banks and lending institutions about contributing money and volunteers. Use the selling point that they can work on the house alongside a member of Congress. Tap into grants from nonprofit organizations to help fund the build. Many national housing organizations that are committed to the project have local members who can be contacted.
For More Information

· Click hereor go to One Realtor Place® and search "Houses That Congress Built."

· Call Jean Wussow, staff executive for NAR's Housing Needs Committee, at 202/383-1188.

· Send an E-mail toJean Wussow.
Tell Us What You Think
We'd appreciate receiving feedback from you about this article. Did you find it useful? Are there improvements we could make to similar articles planned for the future? E-mail your comments toKathy Salman,editor/publisher,Today's Association Executive.