Volunteers Go to the Wall to Help Out Families

Squinting in the midmorning sun, Jorge Garza took a break from his hammering to inspect the maze of wood frames standing on a bare concrete foundation. “I can see nothing yet,” a beaming Garza said of the site that will soon be his new home, “but I know it will be wonderful.”

The landscaper and his family were joined Saturday by more than 40 volunteers from Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, who erected the first walls of a low-cost duplex in the 200 block of South Poplar Avenue. The work will allow the Garzas to live in a new home they otherwise could not afford.

In six months, when the house keys are handed to the family of five, the Garzas will join 61 other Orange County families in five cities who have partnered with the program to build a new home. The international program uses volunteer labor and donations to build simple dwellings to sell at no profit to low-income families.

Joe Perring, a 49-year-old Santa Ana developer, has worked on each of the homes built by the Orange County chapter since Habitat for Humanity arrived locally in 1988. With hammer still in hand, he took a break from Saturday’s labor to invite others to share in the rewarding experience.

“Come on out, do a little house-building and a lot of community-building,” Perring said. “But be prepared for your life to change. There’s a great feeling when you’re part of something like this, and it will change you.”

Another worker, a first-time volunteer, echoed that sentiment. Financial analyst Frank McAllen, 37, of Ontario, said he was inspired to join the project after seeing a tearful and excited family move into one of the group’s homes that his wife had helped build.

“It was enough to make a grown man cry, and I said ‘Next time, I’m there,’ ” McAllen said. “It’s a way to give back to society, and it just makes you feel great to see these families get the opportunity.”

The Garzas and the family selected for the other unit at the duplex under construction were among 1,000 families who applied for the units. To qualify, families had to lack adequate housing, earn less than 50% of the county’s median income and contribute 600 hours of “sweat equity”--time and labor devoted to the project.

Partner families are offered no-interest mortgages, and donated or reduced-cost materials keep the cost of the homes down, according to Caris Lester, an Orange graphics artist and project volunteer for six years. The families must have a minimum annual income of $16,000 to handle the mortgage.

“These are not giveaways; the families still pay a mortgage and work hard to get the home,” Lester said. “Habitat for Humanity just gives them an opportunity to live in a decent home.”

Locally, Habitat for Humanity has plans underway to build more homes in Anaheim, Brea, Huntington Beach and Irvine, Lester said.

Habitat for Humanity, begun in 1976, is ranked fifth among the nation’s busiest home builders and has constructed more than 35,000 homes worldwide.