Our Team |
Supporters |
History |
OUR MISSION is to work toward the elimination of substandard housing on Martha's Vineyard and in the process, build stronger families and a strong community. Furthermore, it is our goal that all of our words and actions are for the purpose of putting shelter on the hearts and minds of people in such a way that inadequate housing and homelessness become unacceptable in our world, our nation and on our Island.
You may be surprised to learn that affordable housing is one of the major problems on what you may think of as the "wealthy" island of Martha's Vineyard. But it really is. In addition to being a beautiful place to live, Martha's Vineyard is an expensive place to live. Home prices are 85 percent above the statewide median.
As a result, people, especially young people, are leaving the island because of high housing costs. And many of the people leaving are the people we need if the island is to remain a vibrant community: teachers, municipal workers, handymen, etc. Habitat For Humanity of Martha's Vineyard, Inc. is working hard to help solve this problem by giving deserving people a hand up, not a handout. Will you help us?
If you want to help solve the problem of finding affordable housing on Martha's Vineyard, browse through our web site to see the many ways you can help, no matter what your circumstances.
ONE FAMILY'S STORY
We think the best way to share with you about the need on our Island is to introduce you to Jenna Anderson and her teenage twins, Alison and Stephan. The Andersons are fictionalized because we respect the privacy of our partner families’ lives, but they are a composite of very real families who do or could live in a Habitat house.
Jenna Anderson came to the Island as a young nurse. She went to work for a local doctor, she played on a women’s volleyball team, sold raffle tickets for the Visiting Nurses Association, and even knitted scarves and sold them at the Farmer’s Market. She married in Edgartown and divorced 8 years later.
Child support did not materialize. With only one income, she could not continue renting the house she had lived in while married.
Jenna took on extra part-time jobs. Over the next five years she managed by renting a series of houses in one town or another every winter, the children switching schools accordingly. But from June through September, when landlords raised rents to their seasonal highs, the Andersons moved off-island to cheaper housing; Jenna commuted to her job on the Vineyard. Life was unstable at best.
When the twins turned 12, it was no longer appropriate for them to share a bedroom. Despite taking on additional, part-time jobs, Jenna could not afford to rent a three-bedroom house. Her income was reasonable enough if she had been living on the mainland. But not on Martha’s Vineyard, where rents in winter were manageable and in summer soared. There were nights when Jenna slept in the doctor’s office where she worked and the twins had to stay with friends. There were times when she rented space in an unheated garage.
Basically homeless, Jenna was worried about the life she was making for her children. She knew their nomadic, seasonal lifestyle couldn’t continue, but buying a house was out of the question. Although she had heard the phrase “affordable housing” on the Island, she assumed “affordable” meant less than market rate, but market rate was so astronomical that even a fraction of that would be too much.
With some skepticism, Jenna visited the Habitat office on State Road and learned that because her income was less than 80% of the average for Dukes County and because she had a steady income and good credit ratings, she qualified to apply. Apply she did, assured by Habitat that if she were selected she would pay part of her down payment with “sweat equity,” that is, participating in the actual construction of her house along with other Habitat volunteers from the community. The total cost of the house would be what she could afford. Because Habitat, a non-profit organization, would hold the mortgage, there would be no interest on Jenna’s monthly payments and Habitat would not make any profit.
After a comprehensive evaluation of the Andersons and the many other applicants, our Family Selection Committee selected the Andersons. With their friends, neighbors, relatives and lots of volunteers from civic groups, church groups, other organizations and businesses, they built their house with materials purchased in part by Habitat through cash contributions and in part donated by builders and suppliers on the Island.
Are the Andersons living happily ever after? Well, there are now five Habitat families who are in fact living in homes like those shown in this brochure and never have to move from one rental to another again.
So that is the Habitat story. As you have seen, YOU fit in a number of places. We won’t beat around the bush: we need money to buy land and materials for Habitat homes. And, we need your labor to help construct the houses. But, equally, we need your support as champions and/or spokespersons for the families that need Habitat houses.
These are our neighbors, the people who serve our community, the people who help give our Island its character. Young people, especially, are leaving the Island because they cannot afford to live here. They are nurses, teachers, police officers, ambulance drivers, lobstermen, office workers and so many others. If they cannot afford to stay here, to raise their families here as their families did, then our Island will lose an element of its identity that we all cherish and need. We cannot afford to see them go.
Habitat can help keep our Island strong and vibrant, keep the people who sustain our community and strengthen our families. Please get involved and help. Thank you.
Join Habitat so you can say, “I helped build it!”
.jpg)