Building a habit for humanity

As Habitat for Humanity volunteers build homes, they are building the

futures of not only families, but entire communities. That’s at the

heart of Costa Mesa resident Mark Korando’s passion for the

organization and what it does.

What Habitat and Korando -- who has served as executive director

of Habitat’s Orange County organization since Sept. 15 -- do in

Orange County has been in the news recently. The Costa Mesa City

Council decided on Oct. 18 that Habitat would not be able to build an

affordable-housing development on a site behind Harbor Center. The

decision pleased neighbors in the area, who questioned the effect the

eight proposed homes would have on the neighborhood. But it

disappointed Korando and others, who saw the project as yet another

way to provide homes for working families and make use of a 1

1/2-acre parcel.

But life goes on for Korando, and Habitat’s mission -- to end

substandard housing through affordable, no-interest loans and the

help of volunteers -- survives.

Korando, a former Costa Mesa planning commissioner, answered some

questions from the Pilot’s Ryan Carter about Habitat.

How are Habitat for Humanity homes important in a community?

Not everyone in Orange County is a white-collar worker making six

figures, some are middle income, and some are low-wage earners. We

all need some of the same basic things in life like a decent place to

live, a safe place to raise your family. Only 11% of families can

afford to buy a median-priced home in Orange County.

Diversity should not be limited to race or religion. A healthy

community includes all economic strata, and attaining the American

Dream should be available to those who are willing to work hard but

need a hand-up not a hand-out. If people who work in the service

industry or manufacturing jobs can’t afford to live here, the cost of

goods and services become more expensive for us all. Affordable

housing is a necessary component of a healthy economy.

What conditions or demographics make a neighborhood and a

community ripe for Habitat homes?

Every city, county -- the world -- is ripe for Habitat homes.

Unfortunately, the Orange County coastal communities either have no

land available or the price of land is so expensive, it makes it

infeasible to acquire land for affordable homes.

Habitat fills a niche that many communities find attractive. We

look for underutilized, prime properties in distress, and overlooked

spaces. We are constantly competing with boutique developers for

these locations. It gets harder every year to outbid those who use

conventional means of financing the developments.

Tell me a little about site development for Habitat? How do you go

about developing a site, and what makes Costa Mesa a place where

Habitat can and does build homes? How much work do you do with the

existing residents of a community?

Site development is a two- to three-year process and a series of

questions to be answered: Where’s the land? Are housing funds

available? How many homes can you fit on the site? What are the

costs? Is there enough room for families? Can we make the home prices

fit the program families’ income? The final question is, does the

community want to actually address the challenge of providing a place

for everyone, or just turn a blind eye to overcrowding and

substandard housing for those who serve our communities?

Habitat families work in jobs that we all need. They are bus

drivers, teachers aides, food service employees and healthcare

workers. These folks can’t afford a decent place to live in Orange

County. It’s easy to say there are affordable homes in Riverside but

that is why we can’t get around on the overcrowded freeways or Harbor

Boulevard, and our air is getting worse. We need to be able to live

where we work, where the services are in demand.

Most cities ask us to share our story, our mission, with the

community prior to an initial development in the community through

neighborhood meetings. We are happy to meet with potential neighbors

to tell them about the Habitat program, show them drawings of the

proposed homes, and begin a dialogue that will hopefully result in

the Habitat families and existing residents becoming good neighbors.

We also have a group of dedicated volunteers who spread our word

through print and electronic media.

What are Habitat’s goals in Costa Mesa? What are its challenges,

or obstacles in doing what it does?

Our goal throughout the county is to end poverty housing. We like

to not see the problems in the housing stock but there are a lot of

properties where the roofs leak, there is no hot water, the floors

are weak and collapsing, right here in Costa Mesa. Our volunteers see

it every time we visit families that want to purchase Habitat homes.

Our challenges are the rising costs of sites and materials.

One of our biggest obstacles is fear. When people hear affordable

or low-income homes their thoughts go to “the projects” of the 1970s,

rife with crime, drugs and gangs. The past mistakes of public housing

haunt all affordable housing developers. In truth, the developments

of the past 15 years are the best-managed, most highly controlled

housing developments in the county. They exist in places such as

Ladera Ranch, Irvine, Costa Mesa and Brea. You probably drive by them

when you visit these communities and you won’t even recognize them

because the sites are beautifully designed and well-kept.

Are you working on other projects in the city? Which ones, and

what are they like?

Not at the moment, but if you know of a site, we sure would like

to look at it. Currently, Habitat is concentrating on acquiring sites

in north and south county cities.

You are a former planning commissioner. How did you get involved

with Habitat? How long have you been there?

I first saw an ad in the paper, “Habitat Needs Volunteers for a

Jimmy Carter Blitz Build.” I just had to see how a bunch of unskilled

volunteers could build three homes in one week. Seeing the homes take

shape and finished in that short of a time, and working alongside the

families, struck a chord in me that was a profound life-changing

experience. These were hard-working families that just wanted a

decent, safe place to raise their children. That was in 1995. I came

home worn out and tired after that week and told my wife this is what

I wanted to do with the rest of my professional life, and I joined

the staff in 2000.

Do you have any reaction at all to the City Council denying the

project for the site behind Harbor Center? Will Habitat appeal?

The community has made their decision and Habitat respects that,

however I believe this was a lost opportunity for the community. At

this point, we do not intend to appeal the community’s decision.

Do you feel Habitat was given a fair shake by the city and the

neighborhood in trying to develop the eight-home proposal? Why, or

why not?

I understand the concerns of the neighbors, but their complaint

wasn’t with Habitat but with the City Council that voted to approve

the commercial buildings in their back yards.

Why was that particular area of Costa Mesa such a good place to

build?

Any place in Costa Mesa is a good place to build. All you have to

do is look at where homes have been built in the last 15 years, next

to the [San Diego] Freeway at Bear, Mesa Verde and Adams, Adams and

Fairview, and Ford and Parsons. Even the old site of the Daily Pilot

will soon be homes, very expensive homes. Fifteen years ago we would

never have considered those sites for housing and now we are looking

at mixed-use and Brownfields as a way to provide new housing in

Orange County. The demand is high and the supply has not kept up,

whether it is a market-rate home or an affordable one.