1st time in 6 years organization to bring effort in Atmore

Escambia County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Lisa Tindell recently visited the Atmore Lions Club and said work will soon begin on a home in Atmore.

Tindell said this is the first time in at least six years the organization has had the opportunity to work in the Atmore area, and the first time Habitat has been able to help a family inside the city limits.

“We’ve done one down in the Perdido area, still inside Escambia County, but this will be our first opportunity to do a work in Atmore that will give a family inside the city limits a home,” Tindell said.

She also said this particular project is unique because it is a home “rehab” rather than a structure being built from the ground up.

“I’m really, really excited about this particular venture because the home is in an older, established neighborhood on East Craig (Street),” she said. “The house is kind of run down. It’s not in too bad of shape, but the house needs some revamping and the yard needs some work.”

Tindell said the idea of rehabbing a home, rather than building a new one, actually provides value for, not just the family, but for the community and her organization.

“Because it’s in a family neighborhood, we’re excited to be able to rehab the home and clean up the block, all while making it possible for a family to move in,” she said. “Because we’re cleaning up what is kind of an eye sore right now, it’s helping property values in the neighborhood.”

Tindell said, with the average cost of building a new home typically running between $75-to- $80,000, spending considerably less to rehab a home also frees up some of Habitat’s other funds, which can go toward other projects helping more families in the county.

“We would like to build a home from the ground up,” she said. “But I would say 90 percent of the calls we get are for what we call critical repairs; a roof needs to be replaced or the floor is caving in. Saving a little money by rehabbing a home might allow us to use some of those dollars to help some other people.”

As in all Habit at for Humanity projects, the family receiving the home will provide what is known as “sweat equity” by working on the project themselves; however, Tindell said volunteers are welcome to join the project.

“We use contractors a lot, but we would love to have volunteers. If we had a certified electrician that would volunteer 16 hours on a project, for example, we could get it all done for free.”

Tindell said, as of now, the home is still undergoing inspections in order to determine exactly what work needs to be done, but a mid-to-late May date is hopeful for the start of work.

Tindell added anyone interested in volunteering to work on the project or in making a tax-deductible monetary donation to Habitat for Humanity may contact her office at 251-867-0095.