PAYSON AREA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

ABOUT US:

OUR MISSION: Habitat for Humanity provides home ownership opportunities for low-income families.  Working under the faith-based principle that no profit should be gained from assisting those in need, Habitat for Humanity charges no interest on the houses that it sells.  "If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy…charge him no interest" (Exodus 22:25).

OUR VISION:  Payson Area Habitat for Humanity's Vision is to build a community of volunteers, donors and homeowners which provided decent, affordable homes annually for households with incomes that are less than 60% of the area.

ORGANIZATION HISTORY: In 1994 a group of individuals met to discuss what could be done in the Payson area to alleviate the shortage of low-to-moderate income housing.  Out of this and subsequent meetings, Payson Area Habitat for Humanity, Inc. (PAHH) was formed.

Official affiliation with worldwide Habitat for Humanity International^® (HFHI) was granted to PAHH on July 1, 1995.  Our affiliate is currently one of 14* in Arizona; 2,300* worldwide affiliates in 93* countries (*statistics as of March 2006).  The 200,000th [in Knoxville, TN] and 200,001st [in Kanyakumaria, India] houses worldwide were completed in August 2005.  This year HFHI will celebrate thirty years of existence.

SWEAT EQUITY: "Sweat equity" is the 'down payment' invested by each carefully selected PAHH partner family.  The family assists in the construction of its own house, those of other prospective PAHH homeowners and with fund raising, office work or public relations, by contributing between 300-500 hours of unpaid labor.  This reduces costs while creating pride of ownership and community spirit.

Payson Area Habitat for Humanity is NOT a give-away program but a community partnership undertaking among prospective homeowners, businesses, tradesmen, grantors, individual donors and volunteers from all social, ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds.  Everyone is encouraged to lend a helping hand – whether skilled, "do-it-yourselfers" or novices – this enables many to learn new skills while maintaining construction costs at a minimum.  Homeowners are offered "A Hand Up, not a Hand Out".

COMMUNITY SERVICES PAHH PROVIDES: PAHH participates in several community projects including ADOT's Adopt-A-Highway program, the Annual Business Showcase, the Community Health and Care Fair and the Christmas Light Parade.  In late 2004 several PAHH construction volunteers built horse and emu shelters for the non-profit Whispering Hope Ranch, dedicated to bringing the wonder of nature and animals to children with special needs, located about 20 miles East of Payson.  The Time Out Shelter housing benefited from PAHH volunteers' renovation help in 2005.  In February 2006 several PAHH volunteers re-sided the Rim Country Museum's Ranger Station at Green Valley Park.

L-R - Tom Herbolsheimer (on ladder), Jim Buettner & Ken Althoff.

 

Just a "part" of the crew;

L-R - Bob Berger, Jim Buettner, Tom Herbolsheimer,

Ken Althoff, Joe Desrochers and Clovis Eden.

PAHH cooperates with the Gila County Probation Department in offering service projects (both in the construction field and in office work) to those needing to perform Community Service.  An alliance has also been formed with Horizon Human Services (Payson) to give job seekers hands-on experience by working on PAHH houses.

TITHE TO THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES: Ten percent (10%) of all undesignated funds received by PAHH are applied toward constructing HFHI houses in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.  This affords the possibility of two or more houses being constructed there as each one is completed in Payson.  In Nogales each HFH house costs a minimum of $4,400US to build.

 

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PAHH 2008-2009 BOARD

PAHH held its annual Board of Directors meeting in June 2008.  The Officers and Board members for Fiscal Year 2009, running from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009, include:

Officers

President............	Charles Proudfoot
Vice President.....	Bruce E. Hopkins
Secretary...........	Debra Colbertson
Treasurer...........	Nancy A. Hartley

 

Board Members

Kate Adams, Ken Althoff, Diane Bricker, Ivon English,

 Lois English, Ross Hage, Tom Herbolsheimer,

Richard Hinkie, Gene Sampson, Mark Sopeland

Board meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month at 6:00 p.m. in Room 304 at Payson United Methodist Church, 414 North Easy Street, Payson and are open to the public.

 

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