An Informational Meeting and Application Fair will be held on Thursday, April 3 from 6-7 p.m. at the Methodist Church Family Life Center next door to Love-Cantrell Funeral Home near downtown Smithville. During  that meeting, families will receive help in completing the application and will be given information about the Habitat Program. 
If you are unable to attend  the meeting, you may call the Habitat phone number 615-215-8181 and leave your name, address and phone number and a Habitat volunteer will contact you to provide additional information and perhaps mail an application to you.
To be considered, completed and signed applications must be postmarked by  Wednesday, April 30, 2014.
The purpose of Habitat is to build homes with families and sell the houses at no profit and no interest to families who could not otherwise afford a house. This Christian ministry is financed through private donations and utilizes volunteer labor and donated materials, if possible.
Habitat guidelines are basically three major qualifications:  need for housing, ability to pay and a willingness to partner. In addition, partner families must have been a resident of DeKalb County for at least one year prior to April 2014,  and they must be a US citizen or have permanent resident alien status.
A Family Selection Committee will consider applications, based on those major qualifications as well as some other general guidelines as follows:
•Must have a housing need: For example,  poor heating, leaks in the roof, overcrowding (three to a bedroom), unsafe or unsanitary conditions or lack of adequate water or plumbing
For a family of four, the maximum allowable annual income is  $26,510 which is 55 percent of the median income for families in our community. If you are age 60 or have a special needs household member, the maximum allowable annual income level for a family of four is $28,920. The income levels vary according to family size. You may get detailed information specific to your family at the informational meeting on April 3. 
With your permission, we will verify employment and other income, verify checking and savings account balances, get a statement from your current landlord, have a credit check completed and and a criminal background check.
•Willingness to Partner:
  If approved for a Habitat house, we will ask that you be willing to join in                      programs to learn and practice budgeting, home repair and home maintenance.
Hopefully, family #6 will be able to work on the house of family #5 to begin earning their “sweat equity.”
If approved for a Habitat house, we require that all adult household members (18 years and older) be willing to work a combined total of 500 hours of “sweat equity”, with 100 of those hours completed before construction. Children who are members of the household may help with “sweat equity” by improving their grades in school and having good attendance at school.
Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County is very anxious to help another family have their dream of home ownership become a reality.