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Fuller Center accepting home applications

Joe Moylan
Neil Folks, president of the Moffat County Fuller Center for Housing, reviews plans for a single level, three-bedroom home in Craig. The Fuller Center will begin accepting applications Wednesday from low-income families.
Joe Moylan

Quotable

“We found that when people have their own blood and sweat into it, they tend to take much better care of the home. It means more to you and that’s why that sweat equity is important.”

— Neil Folks, Moffat County Fuller Center for Housing president

Quotable

“We found that when people have their own blood and sweat into it, they tend to take much better care of the home. It means more to you and that’s why that sweat equity is important.”

— Neil Folks, Moffat County Fuller Center for Housing president

The application process to find a low-income family worthy of a new home in Craig begins this week.



Neil Folks, president of the Moffat County Fuller Center for Housing, said applications for a soon-to-be-built 1,714-square foot home at 731 Yampa Ave. would be available beginning Wednesday.

Low-income families earning about 125 percent of the national poverty level are eligible to apply, Folks said.



Applications may be acquired at Love In the Name of Christ of the Yampa Valley, 656 School St.; the Moffat County Department of Social Services, 595 Breeze St.; area churches; and Brass Key Realty, 840 W. Victory Way.

In addition to meeting certain criteria of low-income family status, the Fuller Center for Housing expects the qualifying family to earn its new home by participating in the construction.

“We found that when people have their own blood and sweat into it, they tend to take much better care of the home,” Folks said. “It means more to you and that’s why that sweat equity is important.”

The Fuller Center requires 350 hours of ‘sweat equity’ from the qualifying family, but friends of the family also are encouraged to participate in the home construction.

Families must be able to contribute 40 sweat equity hours per month and 150 hours of the 350 total must be completed by applicants who will eventually take ownership.

Though the Fuller Center cannot guarantee the closing price of the home because of fluctuating costs of materials and the availability of volunteer labor, it does provide no interest loans for a 30-year mortgage cycle.

Families applying for the opportunity to participate in the Fuller Center project should be able to put $500 down and pay $250 at closing in addition to the sweat equity requirements.

To ensure costs remain low, Folks said the Fuller Center is considering three home types including stick built, pre-fabrication and modular.

The Fuller Center also is taking into consideration a potential need for handicap accessibility, which could also fluctuate the size and closing price of the home.

Folks has been managing the demolition and reconstruction of the project since spring 2011, when a building at 731 Yampa Ave. was condemned by the City of Craig.

The project is nearing the foundation phase and Folks hopes to turn the home over to a needy family by January 2013.

Applications must be returned by Aug. 31 to Brass Key, Folks said.

The Fuller Center was founded in 2005 in Americus, Ga., by Millard Fuller, who is also a founding member of Habitat for Humanity.

The Moffat County chapter began last year with the project at 731 Yampa Ave.

For more information, call Folks at 326-8726.

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