CLINTON ADMINISTRATION CELEBRATES HOMEOWNERSHIP
USDA Self-Help Housing Program Assists People Building Homes
TANEYTOWN, Md., June 9, 1998--Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman and a group of USDA employees today helped raise walls at a rural housing development which will soon be home for 22 families or individuals, most of whom thought they would never share in the American dream of homeownership. The single-family homes are being built under USDA's Mutual Self-Help Housing Program, in which groups of low-income rural people become homeowners through the investment of "sweat equity."
"This is a terrific program that helps hundreds of hardworking people in our rural communities afford the American Dream," said Glickman. "And what better way to give your home a personal touch than to help build it yourself."
Glickman's participation is part of National Homeownership Week (June 6-13). "Homeownership in the United States is already at a record high of 65.7 percent of all households, but President Clinton is determined to boost that record by the end of his presidency," Glickman said. "USDA is playing a key role in President Clinton's drive to create 8 million new home owners by the end of the year 2000."
The Self-Help Housing program that Glickman was involved with today is a public-private partnership, under which USDA provides techncial assistance grants to nonprofit housing organizations. The nonprofits acquire land in rural communities and oversee groups of 6 to 12 families as they construct the houses. The families work with an experienced construction supervisor who teaches them all the skills they need to perform at least 65 percent of the labor on their new homes. No one can move into a home until all the homes in a development are completed.
"This program helps rural families build homes they could not otherwise afford to buy, and in the process many learn skills that can lead to new careers," said Jill Long Thompson, under secretary for USDA Rural Development. "The Self-Help Housing program is just one of USDA's rural housing programs, which combine to create about 50,000 to 60,000 new rural homeowners each year."
USDA recently expanded the Self-Help program from 35 to 43 states and is now helping 1,500 rural families build their houses each year.
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