RUSKIN, Fla. — A federal investment of $28 million is supporting a housing model that allows qualified low- and very-low-income families to help build their own homes, reducing the cost of homeownership through labor.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development announced the funding through the Single Family Housing Mutual Self-Help Housing Grants program. The money is expected to support 579 new housing units and 181 rehabilitations across the country.
In southern Hillsborough County, Florida Home Partnership has used the USDA 502 Mutual Self-Help Housing program for 30 years while pursuing new development in Ruskin, according to Detra Smith-O’Bryant, the organization’s CEO.
“It gives us relief to fill that gap so that our families can really have a place to call home,” Smith-O’Bryant said.
The program allows qualified households to contribute labor toward construction. Smith-O’Bryant said participants can benefit from no down payment, stronger community connections and, at times, better interest rates than they might receive through a traditional lender.
Yvette Dickinson, a homeowner who went through Florida Home Partnership’s mutual self-help housing program, said the opportunity helped her as a single mother of two daughters.
“It gave me the opportunity to see what I was capable of,” Dickinson said. “I was the single mom of two little girls at the time, I wanted a better future for them.”
Dickinson said she was a U.S. Army veteran but still struggled to find loans she could afford as a single mother.
“With these programs, being able to put my sweat into the home, not only was I able to show my girls hard work does pay off, but hard work also saved us some money,” Dickinson said.
The experience also led Dickinson into a new career. She now works for Florida Home Partnership, helping other families pursue the same opportunity, and said she recently became a certified licensed builder in Florida.
“You never forget this,” Dickinson said. “You never forget your first home you built.”