COMMUNITY

Volunteers clear land for White Sands Habitat for Humanity

Dylan Taylor-Lehman
Alamogordo Daily News
Approximately 35 volunteers recently undertook a project on behalf on White Sands Habitat for Humanity in which they cleared a property to make way for a new home.

ALAMOGORDO – An Alamogordo resident received more than a few helping hands on Nov. 28 when volunteers undertook a White Sands Habitat for Humanity (WSHH) project to make way for her new home.

The 35 volunteers, comprised of staff from Soaring Heights Communities at Holloman Air Force Base and executives from WINNResidential, a Boston property management group, volunteered to help resident Ella Reliford clear a half-acre residential lot on Western Street and demolish a structure already on the property, WSHH Executive Director Kuia Taiaroa said.

“As part of their conference, they always go out and are hands-on in their community and pick a nonprofit,” Taiaroa said. “That large group came out and demoed the home for us and cleared out a lot of land, which saved us money.”

The property was cleared as part of WSHH’s "Home Program," a home rehabilitation program for low-income homeowners.

“Basically the goal for the program is (to create) a safe, table environment for someone to live and bring everything up to code,” Taiaroa said. “The home was so dilapidated that she wasn’t even allowed to live in it. We are replacing that with a new manufactured home for her. We have to upgrade her well, and we are going to install a septic system for her.”

Volunteers removed debris from a dilapidated structure before it was torn down to make way for a new home.

To qualify, a homeowner must own the home and the land and meet certain income requirements based on family size, Taiaroa said.

“There’s a 15-year lien placed on the property. As long as they don’t try to sell the property for profit, that lien will come off after 15 years,” she said. “It really is a palace based on what (they might have) had before.”

WSHH has done 28 rehabs in the past seven years and has five more projects planned for 2019, Taiaroa said.

Some of WSHH’s programs require the homeowner to help with the construction or rehab project, but the Home Program does not always require the homeowner participate in the work.

“A lot of the applicants we receive for this program come from elders who are on a fixed income or have a lot of health problems,” Taiaroa said.

However, the Western Street property owner helped all day long right next to the volunteers, she said.  

Many of the volunteers that helped with the recent clean-up were executives with WINNResidential, who were at Holloman Air Force Base for a conference.

According to a press release issued by LendLease, the parent organization of Soaring Heights, Reliford had no idea on how she would be able to do the work herself. 

Reliford has lived in government housing for the past 40 years and is excited to have a property of her own, the release states.

Taiaroa said WSHH can always use more volunteers.

White Sands Habitat for Humanity is always looking for partner families and advise those who are interested to come into their office, 1109 10th St., to get an application. In the same building, Habitat for Humanity's ReStore is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

For more information, visit White Sands Habitat for Humanity's Facebook page or call their office at 437-6562.

The property on Western Street is empty and awaits the construction of a new home.