Boom and Bust. China and India will be the dual economic engines of the 21st century, many experts proclaim. They have a lot of tuning up to do. Nearly half of Asia's 1.27 billion children still live in poverty--deprived of food, safe drinking water, health or decent shelter, a development agency said in a report released in August. "Asia has more than twice as many severely deprived children as sub-Sahara Africa," it said. "This scale of child poverty will have a serious impact on Asia's future prospects, unless it is addressed now." The World Bank agreed to lend US$9 billion to India over the next threee years to help ease the poverty burden of 350 million rural dwellers who have been left behind by the economic boom there.

The gift that keeps on giving
As Christmas approaches, gift-giving becomes top-of-mind, especially when your list includes that problematic someone who already has one of everything. By making a donation through Habitat's Gifts from the Heart program, you can honor those who have impacted your life. Habitat will send a personalized card or e-mail to announce your gift. Your friends and loved ones will thank you for involving them in such a worthy cause--and for improving someone's life through decent housing. For more information, call (800) HABITAT or visit www.habitat.org/donation/gfth/default.aspx.

Big problems, big solutions
Two Habitat for Humanity affiliates in southern California recently joined a growing number of urban affiliates that have chosen to merge, including Habitat for Humanity of Greater Philadelphia, Windy City Habitat for Humanity (Chicago), Habitat for Humanity-Valley of the Sun (Phoenix) and Habitat for Humanity Seattle/South King County.

The merger between Habitat for Humanity South Bay/Long Beach and Habitat for Humanity Los Angeles was finalized July 15 and created the second largest urban affiliate in the country: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. The new affiliate will serve more than 50 cities and communities in Los Angeles County and an estimated 6.4 million people. Since 1990, the combined affiliates have built 169 houses and have land for 35 more. Immediate plans include creating a larger volunteer base to accelerate building.

Car pool
In order to steer more low-income families toward affordable homeownership opportunities, Habitat for Humanity launched its nationwide "Cars for Homes" vehicle donation program in August. Cars for Homes takes donated cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, RVs and other vehicles and sells them through automobile auctions, recyclers or salvage yards to raise funds that help build simple, decent homes. Funds generated from vehicle sales benefit the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate and community where the donation is made.

Donors can call Cars for Homes toll-free or process their vehicle donation online ((877) 277-4344 or at www.carsforhomes.org, respectively). Donor contact, title and vehicle information are collected and, upon acceptance of the donation, arrangements are made for the vehicle, keys and title to be picked up for processing.

Habitat for Humanity receives between 70 percent and 80 percent of the sales proceeds after towing fees and other expenses. Donors receive an acknowledgement letter for their car donation and can check with the Internal Revenue Service or their tax adviser for information on the tax deductibility of their donation.

The sincerest form of flattery
While there is much more to do, there is much to celebrate, and Habitat has been so successful--and the affordable housing crisis is becoming so severe-that aspects of its model are being put to good use by others.

The city of Poway, Calif., for instance, has started a program called Supporting Home Ownership in Poway, offering second mortgages to low- and moderate-income residents. Like Habitat's first mortgages, these second loans are interest free. Further, the loans don't have to be repaid until the house is sold, according to city officials. And as when Habitat homes are sold, generally, loan recipients agree to sell in a way that ensures that the program will be self-perpetuating.

The city council set aside $1.9 million for the first round of second mortgage loans when it approved the program. The money came from fees that developers pay if they don't include low- and moderate-income housing in subdivisions they build.

The loan amounts--which range from $180,000 to $220,000--are based on family size and income, as well as applicants' debt levels and the price of the home being considered. If the amounts sound generous, consider that the median home price in San Diego County is $595,000.

In Denver, Volunteers of America has joined with Mile High United Way and the St. Charles Development Co. to help homeless families move toward full independence through homeownership. The Transformational Housing Initiative will put eligible families in a new 23-unit affordable apartment building for up to five years. During their stay, they will open an Individual Development Account and work with a case manager to learn more about financially handling homeownership. Any money they save will be partially matched, which sounds a lot like HFHI's "Save and Build" program, while the second requirement bears a strong resemblance to Habitat's insistence on financial training for partner families. Not everyone is so taken with the model, more's the shame. Habitat's helping hand is extended without regard to color, creed, national origin, marital status and the like. But an in-depth study by The Charlotte Observer in August found that blacks and Hispanics still face discrimination in the lending market.

Volunteers with the Habitat affiliate in Tulsa, Okla., raise the walls for a house in New Haven. The affiliate is the recipient of nine parcels of land through the federal program, Operation Goodwill.

Dealers fold, Habitat cashes in
Law enforcement and federal authorities are partnering with Habitat for Humanity to transform the neighborhood of New Haven in west Tulsa, Okla., from an area of crime into a community of hope.

On Aug. 4, authorities presented the deeds to nine parcels of land, the former property of convicted drug traffickers, to Tulsa Habitat for Humanity, which will use the sites to build new, affordable single-family homes.

The gift was made possible by "Operation Goodwill," a federal program that transfers seized property to community organizations. The donation to Tulsa HFH represents the largest transfer of properties under this national program since its inception.

Fitting memorial
"What does it mean to be poor in America? We can offer no single description of American poverty. But for many, perhaps most, it means homes with peeling paint, inadequate heating, uncertain plumbing. It means that only the very lucky among the children receive a decent education. It often means a home where some go to bed hungry and malnutrition is a frequent visitor. It means that the most elementary components of the good life in America--a vacation with kids, an evening out, a comfortable home--are but distant and unreachable dreams, more likely to be seen on the television screen than in the neighborhood.

"And for almost all the poor it means that life is a constant struggle to obtain the merest necessities of existence, those things most of us take for granted. We can do better."

--Sen. Paul Wellstone, The Nation, April 14, 1997

Timber harvested from the site of the plane crash that killed U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone and seven others is being used to build a Habitat for Humanity home in Hibbing, Minn.

Wellstone, his wife and daughter and five others died on Oct. 25, 2002, when their plane crashed near a rural municipal airport in northern Minnesota.

Five Norway pines and white spruce trees were cut to make space for a memorial at the crash site. Those trees were milled into lumber to help frame the 1,100-square-foot house.

The home is expected to be finished this month.

Home sweet home
Sixty-nine percent of national Habitat for Humanity homeowners surveyed reported increased earnings after purchasing a Habitat home. Habitat homeowners perceived the greatest benefits of homeownership as the increased stability in their lives and the instilled positive outlook on the future.

--"Making Homeownership a Reality: Survey of HFHI Homeowners and Affiliates," by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development