Together with community partners, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County offers free financial coaching and skills workshops in July as part of its 2024 Homebuyer Readiness Program, which is designed to help individuals overcome financial challenges to achieve their goals of owning a home, as well as how to navigate the often complex process in the purchase of a home.
Workshops will be held on Tuesday, July 23, from 6-7 p.m. on goals and strategies and from 7-8 p.m. on credit and debt; and on Tuesday, July 30, from 6-7 p.m. on mortgage preapproval and from 7-8 p.m. on all things ownership.
The workshops, which will be held at the Spencer Road Branch of the St. Charles City-County Library, 427 Spencer Road in St. Peters, are open free-of-charge to anyone, even if they do not reside in St. Charles County. Community experts will be on hand to help potential homeowners create action plans and personal coaches will be available. Individuals are encouraged to attend each workshop, but also are welcome to choose those of particular interest.
To register, contact Shana Eubanks, homeowner support manager, at
sh***@ha**************.org
or call 636.978.5712, extension 118.
The Homebuyer Readiness Program is separate from Habitat’s time-honored homeownership program, which provides a “hand up” opportunity by partnering with local individuals and families to build and buy a home. The program provides resources and engages in activities on setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals to help ensure objectives are attainable within a certain time frame. Upon completion of the program, participants will have gained an overall understanding on ways to improve their credit and set a path toward obtaining preapproval for a mortgage.
“The definition of an affordable home isn’t what it used to be,” said Michelle Woods, executive director, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County. “Together with our valued community partners, the door to home ownership can open for more families in our community. Our Homebuyer Readiness Program is a great community tool that provides real solutions to people who want to buy a house.”
In its continuing efforts to bring people together to build homes, communities and hope, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County will host a construction kickoff and groundbreaking on July 27 for Haven Pointe, a new $8 million residential neighborhood in Wentzville, Missouri. Located near North Pointe Prairie Road, Haven Pointe will feature a mix of 46 professionally crafted attached townhomes or ranch-style homes – with four-to-six homes per unit – which individuals or families selected by Habitat will help to partner, build and buy.
Since 1997, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County has completed the construction of 99 safe, decent and affordable homes – with additional homes underway. Each home is built or renovated by the Habitat St. Charles construction team and the selected homeowner, who join forces with more than 2,000 volunteers donating 14,000 hours each year. The nonprofit community-level affiliate acts in partnership with and on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, an international, non-governmental, nonprofit organization devoted to building strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.
Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County offers a “hand up” opportunity that transforms lives, builds a strong foundation and forges lasting relationships with communities for a bright future. Applicants and co-applicants selected for a Habitat home agree to perform a minimum of 150 “sweat equity” hours each, for a total of at least 300-to-450 hours, in the building of their home or other Habitat projects. In collaboration with community partners, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County offers free financial coaching and skills to potential homeowners through the Homebuyer Readiness Program, in which participants learn about credit, debt, budgeting, setting goals and saving money. In addition, the organization guides homeowners through an affordable mortgage repayment process.
To help fund and support these efforts, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County operates the Habitat St. Charles ReStore habitatstcharles.org/restore/ a retail outlet located at 186 Mid Rivers Center in St. Peters. ReStore, which opened in 2007, has diverted over 100,000 tons of waste from local landfills by selling donated new and used building materials, appliances, furniture and select home goods items back to the general public at fair prices. Funds raised will allow Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County to be self-sustaining, with a goal of 100 percent of every dollar donated going directly toward the building of simple, decent, affordable homes for families in St. Charles County. In addition, Habitat for Humanity of St. Charles County hosts an annual gala as its premier fundraiser in November, a trivia night each spring and an annual Women Build movement, an international effort to empower women to help families build strength, stability and independence through hands-on learning.
