JC Habitat for Humanity to rehab Baxter home

The Jasper County Habitat for Humanity, which is a division of the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, will be rehabbing a home in Baxter from Jan. 23 to 25 and is looking for volunteers to help.

Habitat for Humanity looks for families who have a difficult time getting a home loan through the traditional channels according to outreach coordinator Omar Padilla. The organization then works with the family for a year to get all of their affairs in order including paying down debt and improving credit.

“Our goal is to prepare a family for successful home ownership,” Padilla said.

According to Padilla, Habit for Humanity is a Christian founded non profit that began with the objective of building affordable housing and giving families low interest home mortgages but it has grown to much more over time.

“Over the years, we have realized not only are new houses needed but also the existing housing stock needs to be repaired,” Padilla said.

That discovery led to the creation of the Rock the Block program which focuses on repairing existing housing. Families can apply for the program and if accepted, Habitat for Humanity schedules the work and finds volunteers to help with the project.

“We have criteria for both the programs,” Padilla said.

The event occurring in Baxter will be performing working on a vacant home. The house came to the organization when the Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity agreed to serve Jasper County.

“It is our goal and our responsibility to rehab that house so that it is back to like new and then identify a family to go through the program to purchase that house,” Padilla said.

The work that will be done to the house in Baxter ranges from putting drywall up in the basement of the house to new flooring and applying new coats of paint in various places in the home according to Padilla.

“Anything in the house that needs to be replaced or repaired will get worked on,” Padilla said.

To complete the project, they need to have 10 volunteers per day when work is underway. They will need approximately 30 volunteers for the three-day Baxter project that runs from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.

“The reason Habitat is able to provide affordable home ownership and affordable housing repairs is because we are able to use volunteer labor,” Padilla said.

This is just the beginning of the Habitat for Humanity work for Jasper County. According to Padilla, the Baxter home will need more work in the spring. Also, the organization will be holding a Rock the Block event in Reasnor from May 13 to 15.

“We are looking for three to five projects that we can work on,” Padilla said.

The one thing he stressed is the need for applicants for the home in Baxter. Padilla mentioned data suggests there are families in Jasper County in need of affordable housing opportunities but there is a lack of applicants.

“We just have not been able to find enough people to apply. I imagine a lot of that has to do with getting the information out,” Padilla said.

He said there is a need for affordable housing in the county in general.

“There is something so elemental that I think it really provides an opportunity for people to just remember how connected we are to each other and just how much good there is in the world,” Padilla said.

If you would like to volunteer for the Baxter project you can contact Padilla at opadilla@jaspercountyhabitat.org, or go to their Facebook page and register at the link provided. You can also visit https://jaspercountyhabitat.org to learn more about the organization and ways you can help.

Contact Dustin Teays at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or dteays@newtondailynews.com