Patterson Park built with ‘sweat equity’ | Habitat for Humanity dedicates final six homes of new development

By Mary Stevens Decker • June 19, 2009 3:11 pm
Shirley and Bob Patterson
Shirley and Bob Patterson

Habitat for Humanity of East King County dedicated the final six homes in the 24-home Patterson Park project, off Avondale Road near Northeast 95th Street, on Saturday, June 13.

The event was the culmination of “more than five years of hard work by family partners, volunteers, staff, AmeriCorps and other Habitat supporters,” said Jodi Bridges, special events and communications officer for Habitat for Humanity East King County (EKC).

About 100 people attended, including Redmond Mayor John Marchione and six partner families who participated in the building of the new homes that they’ll be able to move into on July 1.

According to a fact sheet from Habitat EKC, homeowners are selected based on need, willingness to partner with Habitat, ability to pay mortgage and residence or employment in King County for at least one year.

Habitat families earn $20,400 to $40,700, less than half of 2008 King County median income for a family of four. They provide 500 hours of “sweat equity” as a down payment, working on their own home or the home of a Habitat neighbor.

To ensure that Habitat homes stay affordable in perpetuity, Habitat EKC retains ownership of the land. When it is time for homeowners to move on, their houses are sold back to Habitat EKC and resold to another qualified family.

The homes are “Built Green Certified” by the Masters Builders Association — designed to be durable, environmentally friendly and cost-effective, all characteristics that fit well with the City of Redmond’s goals of sustainability.

Father Jim Eichner, rector at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Cross in Redmond, attended the dedication event to represent one of the six coalitions of churches and businesses which have adopted townhome units at Patterson Park.

“Each coalition raised $100,000 for the building materials of each unit,” said Eichner. “Each coalition provided volunteers on certain days to work on the project. So there were hundreds of volunteers and $600,000 in donations, over the past 14 months, to build the six townhomes for six families. I can’t say enough good about the families who got the homes. Each of them contributed over 500 hours of ‘sweat equity’ in construction and our community is very blessed to welcome them.”