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Outline of Need:
Alaska families, some of them with one parent or one wage earner, seek to break the cycle of renting and own their own homes. Unable to obtain conventional financing, these families banded together and worked with USDA Rural Development to obtain homes by providing "sweat equity."
How Rural Development Helped:
USDA Rural Development operates a "Self Help" program that enables Alaskans that meet eligibility requirements to build their own homes. Under the program, groups of families work together to complete 65 percent or more of the construction of all of the new homes. No family can move in until all of the homes are completed.
Seven families, all renters, worked under the guidance of the Alaska Community Development Corporation (ACDC). The corporation received a grant through USDA Rural Development to provide technical assistance to the families. The corporation also assisted with loan processing, materials purchasing and setting up subcontractors. The families' hard work became their down payment, commonly called "sweat equity."
"We couldn't have built our home any other way," said new homeowner Robert Debach. "There is no way we could have built our home without this USDA program." Debach, who works as an elementary school teacher lived in rental housing with his wife and four children prior to participating in the program. "It was an incredible amount of work and I'm glad its finished," said Debach.
The Results:
The families saved money, worked cooperatively, and achieved the dream of home ownership. Seven quality ranch-style homes on lovely view lots were constructed near Palmer, Alaska.
<< One of the new homes constructed under the Self Help program.
>>The view from the front porch of one of the homes, Alaska's "Pioneer Peak".
(January 2003)
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