Habitat for Humanity, in partnership with the city of Henderson, hopes to revitalize one of the oldest and poorest neighborhoods in town by building 24 new homes between 2016 and 2018.
According to the report of Eric Hartley in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the new homes would be built in Pittman, one of the two original towns in present-day Henderson that was settled in 1929 to provide housing for workers on the former Boulder Dam.
Meg Delor, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas, said that [the city of] "Henderson has truly been a partner in this project, in this area."
Records gathered by the Las Vegas Review-Journal show that Henderson already provided $110,000 to Habitat for Humanity to buy the land of the six homes that were already built in Pittman last August. They are still working on another $275,000 to be used as funds for other lands. Delor said that Habitat for Humanity hopes to resume construction on the group of 20 homes by late 2016 and to finish them by mid-2018.
Families that live in the homes built by Habitat for Humanity own the homes and pay no-interest mortgages capped at 30 percent of their gross incomes, according to Hartley.
There are a couple of requirements the families need to meet in order to be eligible for the homes built by the Habitat for Humanity.
There are three criteria that are needed to be demonstrated by an applicant to be eligible for the new home, as well. The criteria posted in the Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas page are as follows:
- A need for adequate housing
- The ability to repay an interest-free mortgage
- The willingness to commit to a partnership with Habitat, which includes 300 hours of "Sweat Equity," helping with the construction of your home and the homes of other Habitat homeowners, and attending financial literacy/home-ownership classes.
Families should have 30-80 percent of the median income for their area, and must be living in the county for at least a year. Applicants also need to meet some financial standards and must be legal and permanent U.S. residents.
Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas has already built 105 homes in Clark County since its founding in 1991.
