After a year of meetings Bolton said the 10 affiliates will soon become a state sponsored organization, essentially giving them better networking tools to fundraise and brainstorm. Each affiliate currently works independently of one another.

“We can share ideas on how to build houses and how to work with families to make sure they become successful home owners. We’ll be there to encourage each other,” Bolton said. He will serve as the interim president of the new organization until a board formally elects a permanent president, he said.

Rich Parsons, president of Habitat in York County noted in an email that he’s also enthusiastic to expand relationships with other Maine affiliates.

“A few of the specific areas of anticipated benefit are: shared ideas and solutions to challenges, increased ability to take advantage of large batches of donated materials where many affiliates are able to share, state-wide fundraising and the increased awareness that brings,” Parsons wrote.

Habitat for Humanity International was started 32 years ago by Alabama native Millard Fuller, not Jimmy Carter as many people believe, Bolton said.

“His [Fuller] dream was to be rich and by the time he was in his 20s he was a millionaire. He said to himself, ‘If that’s all it feels like to reach this goal of becoming a millionaire, there’s got to be more to life,’” Bolton said of Fuller.

Habitat for Humanity has more than 1,800 affiliates in the United States. The greater Portland chapter was the country’s 59^th official affiliate. 

Besides local affiliates being separate from one another, all affiliates are also independent of Habitat International, meaning all funds are raised by the individual affiliate. Bolton said those affiliates who can will contribute funds to Habitat International.

Parsons said Habitat’s total out of pocket cost to build a house is nearly $100,000 and that subtracting out donated materials and services has kept them at or below $90,000.

Bolton said there are some misconceptions among the general public about Habitat for Humanity, including that they are a government organization and they give away free housing.

“Each affiliate is slightly different, but the family must work sweat equity,” Bolton said. 

Sweat equity means the Habitat homeowner must help construct their home or another person’s home. York County homeowners are required to work 400 hours of sweat equity toward their home.

Bolton said homeowners must also take a first time home buyers course along with budget and home maintenance courses. 

“Most of these folks have only rented before. Our goal is to set them up for success, not failure,” he said.

Bolton said another misconception is that Habitat homeowners are not responsible for paying taxes on their homes.

“We’re taking a family who before might have been using Section Eight vouchers and we’re putting them in a tax paying situation. They’re contributing to the taxpayer base,” he said.

Bolton said most Habitat families often wind up paying less in taxes than they were in rent each month. 

“One in 10 people in Maine need the use of a soup kitchen or food pantry daily to survive. Say a family is paying $1,000 for rent, they might be paying $700 a month in taxes for their Habitat house. That gives them $300 extra for food,” Bolton said.

Bolton and Parsons are proud to report that no Habitat home owners in the greater Portland or York County areas have had their homes foreclosed on. 

“You see a little blip in the economy and a lot of young families are out the door. We’re getting families here in homes they can truly afford,” he said.

Bolton has seen how the economy has affected Habitat. He said 40 to 45 people apply for a Habitat home each year; this year more than 125 people have applied in the greater Portland area.

“I know it’s getting real bad out there for young folks,” he said.

Bolton said anyone can apply for a Habitat home, but the selection process, done by volunteers, is needs based. He said the average recipient is in their early 30s and has children.

“We don’t take race, religion, politics or anything else like that into consideration, it doesn’t matter. Habitat was founded on Christian principles. He [Fuller] wanted to make it clear from the beginning that it could be for anyone,” Bolton said.

One challenge Habitat for Humanity faces is finding land for housing, Bolton said. On May 1 Bolton will attend a luncheon for the Maine Board of Professional Realtors in Portland where he will present Habitat’s needs to a wide audience of potential partners. Local town officials will also attend the luncheon. Bolton said that’s a benefit because he often attends city and town council meetings regarding land for Habitat homes and having area officials in one place makes his networking ability stronger.

“It means we get families into homes that much faster,” Bolton said.

Parsons said York County is also facing challenges in terms of land acquisition. They hope to build a stronger board operational structure that will all them to strengthen funding and volunteers to increase the number of homes they build each year from one to two or three. 

Bolton said land is both donated and purchased and that Habitat’s focus lately is building subdivisions in addition to building on scattered lots. 

Habitat recently partnered with the Maine State Housing Authority on a project in Portland where they are building a four-home subdivision. Bolton said Habitat partnered with the Maine State Housing Authority and purchased the land for $12,500.

“It was very inaccessible land, so it was very much discounted,” he said.

Bolton said he’s proud that two of the homes will be considered Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) homes. The National Association of Home Builders is expected to recognize the homes as the first LEED certified affordable homes in the country, Bolton said.

As it is with any Habitat project, volunteers and sponsors range from plumbers, contractors and large companies and banks to the average person who’s there to swing a hammer, Bolton said. He said roughly 800 volunteers are involved in a Habitat project from beginning to end. 

Just as volunteers and sponsors are a crucial part of Habitat’s success, so is fundraising. Little more than a year ago Habitat opened the ReStore in Portland where they sell new and reusable building materials to raise funds for new homes. In one year the store realized at $250,000 profit, Bolton said. 

“If you donate to the ReStore, the donor gets a tax deduction, the contractor puts less money into the dumpsters and it’s just less material in the landfills,” Bolton said.

Springtime often means fundraising projects for Habitat. The next benefit walk will be the May 17 Gorham House to Hope 5K Race. Registration is from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Gorham High School, 41 Morrill St. For more information call 839-6514. Habitat for Humanity York County will begin a project in Alfred May 31 through June 7. To learn more call 985-4850. York County’s largest fundraiser is the annual Raise the Roof golf tournament. This year the tournament w ill be Sept. 15 at the Old Marsh  Golf Club in Wells. 

To learn more about Habitat for Humanity visit www.habitatyorkcounty.org or www.habitatportlandme.org.