A home of their own

Jennifer Kho

COSTA MESA -- About 70 Orange County women will soon be laying

concrete, building walls and tiling a roof for a single-parent family in

Costa Mesa.

Habitat for Humanity and the city’s Redevelopment Agency are

collaborating to develop three Del Mar Avenue homes for low-income

families.

One of the homes -- with construction slated to begin late this month

or early next month, depending on the rain -- will be built entirely by

women.

“It’s not that women do not normally participate,” said Barbara

Thomas, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. “We have many women

volunteers, but they normally do the behind-the-scenes stuff. Although

there are a few women who do actual building, the majority of those

volunteers are always men.”

The house will be Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s first

“women’s build” house, although women volunteering at other chapters of

the national organization have built several in the United States.

Thomas said the organization decided to make one of the houses a

women’s project to “really draw attention to the fact that women can do

anything” and to get the “other half” of the workforce involved in

eliminating substandard housing.

“We feel if we can mobilize the female half to build as well, there

will just be more people building,” she said.

The Orange County chapter, which opened in 1988, has built 84 homes

throughout the county.

Two of those homes are in Costa Mesa, including one on Wallace Street

and another on Del Mar Avenue, across the street from the site for the

three new homes.

Mayor Libby Cowan, City Councilwoman Linda Dixon and Planning

Commissioner Katrina Foley have already committed to the estimated 16

Saturdays it will take to raise the house.

Foley said she decided to participate to help families gain stability

and security in their lives.

“A home is important because it allows you to focus on caring for your

family, working or getting an education and not having to feel the

pressure of not knowing where you’re going to live,” she said. “What

better project to be involved in? Men dominate the construction industry

and this provides an opportunity for women to see women in those

professions and for the community to see how women can perform in those

roles, as well. Also, it will teach women trades that might be helpful in

their own personal lives and gives them the satisfaction of being

involved in a project literally from the ground to the roof.”

Also helping to build will be the single mother who will be moving

into the house with her four children, said Joan Ziegler, media relations

volunteer.

The mother, whose name has not yet been released, will be paying for

the house, in part, with 500 hours of “sweat equity.” She will also be

paying a 1% down payment and a long-term mortgage.

An all-women team is raising the money to build the house, estimated

to cost $70,000. The organization has so far raised $51,000 and is

gathering donations to try to raise the rest, Ziegler said.

Elizabeth Mahoney, volunteer committee chairwoman for the project,

said she hopes the home will be the first of an annual women’s building

event.

“The women’s build offers a unique opportunity for women to learn

about building in a fun and very empowering environment,” she said. “It’s

an opportunity to create a learning experience for women and also

[Habitat for Humanity] is recognizing this as a great opportunity to

expand their base of volunteers who will be building. It has a very

aggressive build schedule and would like to build many, many houses this

year.”