Milestone for O.C.’s Habitat for Humanity

Alicia Robinson

With the help of many hands that laid a cornerstone, Mark Findlay and

his wife, Caroline, will soon reach a personal milestone.

The Findlays will become homeowners and residents of Costa Mesa

when they move with their three daughters into a new home, the 100th

house built by the Orange County chapter of Habitat For Humanity.

On Tuesday, Habitat For Humanity volunteers and members of Girl

Scout Troop 1734 were among a crowd of about 150 celebrating the

construction of the Pomona Street home, which is also notable as the

1,000th home built in California by a Habitat chapter.

Habitat for Humanity is an international organization that builds

affordable housing with donated materials and volunteer labor. Future

homeowners are included in the building process.

Mark Findlay was involved with his house every step of the way.

“I did roofing, a little bit of painting, concrete,” he said. “I

was here almost every week.”

Findlay was one of many volunteers who helped build, said Pete

Major, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.

Recruiting people to build homes is no trouble, Major said. The

problem is where to build.

Finding land for homes is “the Achilles heel of Habitat for

Humanity of Orange County,” Major said.

“We rely on government and private landowners to make land

available so that we can build,” he said.

And there’s a high demand for everything Habitat can build. Major

said four families were recently selected from about 400 that applied

to live in existing or future Orange County Habitat projects.

With the city’s skyrocketing home prices, “affordable housing is

very, very difficult to find or provide,” Costa Mesa Mayor Gary

Monahan said.

The local shortage of affordable housing shows no signs of

improving.

According to Orange County’s 2003 Community Indicators report, in

July 2002 just 22% of households in Orange County could afford the

median priced single-family home, which then cost $432,630.

That 22% was a seven-point drop from the 29% of households that

could afford the county’s median priced home in 2001.

For now, Orange County’s Habitat chapter is combating the problem

as best it can. The Findlays’ home shares its Pomona Street lot with

one other single-family home and two buildings that will each house

two families -- all built by Habitat for Humanity.

The group is also working with the Orange County Technology

Collective, a council of nonprofit technology associations, to offer

Habitat homeowners access to technology-related products, training

and work experience.

Major said knowing how to use technology is a valuable tool to

help end poverty.

In keeping with those technological goals, the Findlay’s house

will be equipped with a wireless network connection.

But that’s not the only reason the family is excited about moving

in.

“Right now we’re living with my parents, so we’re looking forward

to it,” said Findlay, who plans to move in to the home in February

when the rest of the homes on the lot are completed.

The house will mean more to the family because they helped build

it, he said.

“We’ve seen it from the ground up, ... plus we’ve known our

neighbors from day one.”