Whatever meaning home has taken on for you, it is undoubtedly one of life’s basic necessities. Before anything else, man looks for a place that’s familiar: Somewhere to take root in and to grow.
Sadly, for economic reasons, not everybody has a place to call his own. In the Philippines, the most recent studies reveal that more than four million Filipinos are either homeless or live in substandard homes. While it is one of the government’s immediate responsibilities to ensure that everybody has a decent place in which to live, bureaucracy, corruption and the increasing cost of commercial housing, among others, have derailed efforts to solve this problem.
With this in mind, the Council of the Laity of the Philippines, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the Solidarity Fund Foundation have joined hands to work with Habitat for Humanity Philippines (HFHP) in a project called Jubilee Homes for the Poor. This collective effort aims to fund, build and transfer Habitat-type homes to the initial number of 600 qualified Filipino families of any faith in commemoration of the great Jubilee. The home will have a living room, bedroom, kitchen/dining area, toilet and bath and a small mezzanine – all the basic parts of a proper house. Moreover, it will also have water and electrical systems. The home will be built on any of the 27 existing HFHP sites all over the country, or on a Jubilee Village area.
Beyond building houses, the Jubilee Homes for the Poor project will ensure that beneficiary families will grow with the Jubilee Community through capability-enhancement programs. Other than providing a roof over one’s head, the community will provide the families with training on health and sanitation, environmental care and sustainable livelihood.
Families will be selected by HFHP’s Homeowner Selection Committee, joined by a person designated by the Council of the Laity and approved by the Diocesan Bishop. The targeted beneficiaries are the poorest 20 percent of Filipino families – families who have seasonal income, but whose income-generating capacity can be enhanced by training and job placement so they will be able to pay for their homes.
This far-reaching project will be made possible with the help of generous donors. The cash donations will cover the cost of the house, additional developmental homeowner training and program administration. As part of their own investment prospective, homeowners will also be required to work on their own houses for 400 hours. When the house is turned over to the family, they will pay for it in monthly payments over a period of 15 years at an average of P700 per month. These payments – free of interest and profit, but adjusted for inflation – will then be used to finance new housing projects.
Because housing alone will not solve the problem of homelessness, the project will also build and maintain Jubilee Hospices for jobless street-dwellers who are sick, uneducated and physically or mentally disadvantaged. The hospices will offer temporary shelter, rehabilitation and medical treatment for homeless refugees. The sick can be taken care of until they are healthy enough to go to work.
The goals of the Jubileee Housing for the Poor project are ambitious but attainable – with the generous hearts of those who want to help their needy brethren to have a place to call their own.
Call Jubilee Homes for the Poor at 527-90-28, fax 527-05-50 or e-mail jubileehomes@ wave.com.ph. Their office is located at Room 212 Pius XIII Catholic Center. Donations in any form are welcome.