Habitat for Humanity of Collier County

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Touching people’s lives

Habitat for Humanity

As one of the oldest and most productive branches, Habitat for Humanity of Collier County has produced 1,300 homes since its founding in 1978.

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Habitat for Humanity of Collier County:

Touching hearts one house at a time

by Johanna Gretschel

When Nick Kouloheras began working with Habitat for Humanity (HFH) of Collier County eight years ago, he said he did not fully understand the impact that the project had until he made a personal connection with a beneficiary. Arriving to a build site bright and early at 7:30 every morning one summer, Kouloheras was shocked when a teenage girl beat him there with not even a yawn every single day.

The girl would go on to live in the house that they were currently building and she explained that sacrificing her summer was worth helping her family meet the required 500 hours of labor needed to build the house.

She was the oldest of three sisters, with a mother struggling to make ends meet with two jobs. But the impact a Habitat house would make on this family’s life did not strike Kouloheras until he gave her a ride home one day and witnessed her current living conditions.

The only running water in the $600 per month rented house was a cold stream that flowed out of the shower head. A fire ant infestation sent one of the teenager’s younger sisters to the hospital because the ant bites gave her an unbearable rash. But the efforts of the teenager, as well as Kouloheras and the rest of the Habitat volunteers, granted the family a brand-new, affordable house of their own.

“It was an eye opener for me,” Kouloheras recounted before adding, “That’s one story of 900 similar stories.”

Now the executive vice president of Land Development for Habitat for Humanity of Collier County in South Florida, Kouloheras joined the HFH team as a construction superintendant.

The Collier County branch of HFH is one of HFH’s oldest and most productive affiliates. The branch’s first ground-breaking was in 1978, only two years after HFH’s birth. The branch has produced 1,300 homes since its inception and Kouloheras said they have been the top producing affiliate in the country for the past six years.

Kouloheras said the Collier County affiliate produces homes at a consistent rate of about 100 homes per year, though they managed to churn out 150 during the 08 and 09 fiscal years.

Kouloheras attributed his HFH branch’s success to the working environment they have encountered in Naples. A common misconception of Naples and south Florida as a whole is that of a well-to-do beach town populated by wealthy tourists and retirees. Kouloheras said that retirees skew the city’s income numbers and there are actually a significant number of low-income families.

“There’s not really any industry down here with the exception of tourism and formerly construction,” Kouloheras said. “You don’t really have

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1. Naples, Fla. The Matos family gathers for a photo outside of their home after their selection visit.

All photos courtesy of Habitat for Humanity Collier County.

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a huge professional middle class here. You have the high of the high and the low of the low.”

Collier County’s economic diversity synchs perfectly with a HFH affiliate’s needs.

“This chapter works so well because you have the perfect melting pot of what Habitat for Humanity needs to run properly,” said Kouloheras. “You have a huge base of applicants that need homes and then you have a ton of volunteers to help build homes. And then you have the wealth, which helps the fundraising aspect.”

Kouloheras also cites Naples’ temperate climate as ideal for building homes. Unlike HFH affiliates in the North, HFH of Collier County never has to delay building due to winter weather conditions.

But the most significant contributor to HFH of Collier County’s success is the affiliate’s dedication to maintaining relationships with homeowners, according to Kouloheras. HFH of Collier County operates on a much more personal level with homeowners than a standard home builder would.

“We consider our partner families as family members,” said Kouloheras.

HFH of Collier County requires homeowners to deliver their mortgage payment in person each month, creating a permanent connection between the organization and the beneficiaries.

“A lot of affiliates lose the contact with the family because they allow homeowners to mail payments in or sell the mortgage to a bank,” said Kouloheras.

2. Naples, Fla. Homeowners work to lay sod in the subdivision of Regal Acres.

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Shoreline is proud to be a supplier to the Habitat for Humanity projects in Collier County. Shoreline values their partnership with Habitat for Humanity and look forward to continually assisting with their quest to provide affordable housing for those in need. For more information about Shoreline Flooring Supplies, please visit www.shoreline-flooring.com.

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“Homeowners’ children do better in school, parents become more active in the community. Having a safe, solid environment to live in everyday, it’s amazing what that does to a family’s life.”

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“A lot of affiliates lose the contact with the family because they allow homeowners to mail payments in or sell the mortgage to a bank.”

Keeping mortgage payments an entirely in-house process allows The organization has strict criteria for who can qualify for a HFH HFH of Collier County to make selective arrangements with house. Prospective homeowners must be current residents of Colhomeowners if special circumstances arise. In one instance, the lier County. Applicants must demonstrate financial need to qualify affiliate excused a homeowner’s mortgage payments for three them for a HFH house, but they also must make enough money to months because their child had cancer and they were struggling be able to pay the mortgage off in 25 years. Annual income cannot to pay for the hospital bills. The payments were simply tacked on be lower than $15,000 or higher than $48,000, according to Kouloto the end of the mortgage and the homeowner was able to focus heras, and is based on a sliding scale determined by the number of on the sick child. family members living together.

Preliminary screening by HFH employees weeds out those who As a result of the branch’s close-knit relationship with homeowners, delinquency rates are low and foreclosure rare. Kouloheras said that do not fit the aforementioned criteria. A volunteer panel called the their delinquency rate was below three percent. “selection committee” takes over the next round of screening, which The affiliate also offers English as a Second Language courses and includes a personal interview with the entire prospective family and home maintenance courses for any interested homeowner. During verification of information provided on their application. the home maintenance classes, Kouloheras has taught homeownAt the end of the month, the selection committee convenes and ers simple lessons like how to clean the filter of an air conditioner. votes on each family. The board of directors then has the final word “I have to remember that the majority of our residents haven’t had and the power to veto, though Kouloheras said that only rarely an air conditioner their entire life,” Kouloheras said. “They’ve never does the board reject a family that the selection committee has even seen one.” passed through.

Out of 1,200 to 1,500 applicants every year, only about 100 lucky 3. Immokalee, Fla. Hermelinda Ruiz is paying her monthly mortgage payment in the families will work with HFH of Collier County to own a new home. Immokalee Office to Anna Vidaurri, Family Service Coordinator.

COLLIER IRRIGATION, INC. Collier Irrigation, Inc. specializes in complete irrigation systems from installation to service and maintenance. The company has maintenance contracts for both commercial and residential jobs, and there is no job too small or too big. Collier’s projects include maintaining irrigation for common grounds and roadways. Collier designs irrigation systems, and is also capable of designing variable frequency drive (VFDs) pumpstations for large communities. Collier provided irrigation services for Habitat for Humanity of Collier County, and wishes to congratulate Nick on being a great and professional superintendant who runs projects very smoothly.

Collier Irrigation looks forward to collaborating with Habitat for Humanity in future projects. For more information on Collier Irrigation, visit www. collierirrigationservice.com or call 239-455-5098.

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Naples, Fla. Recently as zoning lines were redrawn, the student body of two Collier County schools became populated with Fall 2010 7

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Kouloheras said that prospective families must meet three main criteria. Families must demonstrate need, the ability to repay and the ability to become a partner with HFH. HFH homeowners must be able to pay off the mortgage because 96 cents of every dollar repaid goes back into building homes.

“We rely heavily on our homeowners to be up to date on their payments,” Kouloheras said. “If you’re not making a mortgage payment, you’re not just hurting yourself; you’re hurting a family who was in your shoes.”

Being a good partner means investing the required 500 “sweat equity” hours in helping to build one’s new home. The teenage girl that was so dead set on arriving at the work site bright and early every summer morning was contributing to her family’s 500 hours.

Kouloheras said that a good partnership is also defined by membership and participation in their neighborhood homeowner’s association.

HFH of Collier County is currently tackling three major projects. An Immokalee subdivision of 150 houses is 70 percent complete and is scheduled for completion within the next year-and-a-half. A 184-unit subdivision called Regal Acres began construction this past January and should take four more years to finish. The Collier County HFH affiliate is also buying and rehabbing foreclosed homes on the open market before reselling them to HFH owners. They expect to turnover 100 previously foreclosed homes in the next two-and-a-half years.

Kouloheras’ favorite part of the HFH process is seeing the transformation HFH families go through.

“It’s neat at the end of the project to see a whole socially and economically diverse population all in the same boat and here they’re living out their dream and owning their own homes,” Kouloheras said.

Kouloheras has found that the children of HFH homeowners often perform better in school after living in their new house. HFH neighborhoods have transformed previously underperforming schools. Kouloheras said two schools, Manatee Elementary School and Lake Trafford Elementary School, were C-rated schools for 10 years. But once HFH neighborhoods were built up around the school districts, the schools became A-rated schools based on their students’ performances.

“Homeowners’ children do better in school, parents become more active in the community,” said Kouloheras. “Having a safe, solid environment to live in everyday, it’s amazing what that does to a family’s life.” CLT 5. Naples, Fla. Families gather for orientation, where they learn about working their sweat equitity hours and what is means to be a Habitat partner.

Thanks to the following partners of Habitat

This article was underwritten by Precision Builders, installing drywall and plastering homes for Habitat for Humanity in Collier County over the past 10 years. Daniel B. Gonzalez, and the staff at Precision

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