Volunteers build low-income housing
August 21, 2008
By Emily Keller
Area projects could preview ideas for parts of Town Center
Bill Zabriskie and his wife Cathy Zabriskie, of Sammamish, work on the Patterson Park development in Redmond. Photo contributed
Sammamish resident Ray Dellecker has helped build low-income housing in Issaquah, Bellevue, Redmond and Snoqualmie and now he wants to build homes in his own city.
Dellecker is one of several Sammamish residents calling for more affordable housing in Sammamish, particularly as the 243-acre Town Center project moves forward.
The City Council has voted to require 10 percent of the housing units built under the plan to be available to people with low incomes, which opens the door for the construction of up to 200 affordable units. One of the city’s potential partners in that effort is the East King County branch of the non-profit organization Habitat for Humanity International.
Habitat for Humanity homes are available to people making less than 50 percent of the median income, which equates to less than $40,000 per year for a family of four in East King County.
Candidates must also live in sub-standard housing, be able to afford an interest-free mortgage on their home and contribute 500 hours to building the new home.
The local Habitat for Humanity affiliate has built only one home in Sammamish so far, but some city residents have taken an active role in the organization through a partnership of churches that contributes building assistance and financial help.
Dick Gram, a former software developer and business manager at The Boeing Company who has lived in Sammamish since 1988, does volunteer work for the organization for seven hours every Thursday. Gram has helped build homes in Newcastle, Redmond and Snoqualmie Ridge, and has also served on the local affiliate’s advisory board.
Gram said he has learned his home-building skills on the job. “I’m an expert at nothing but I’m willing to try just about anything,” he said about his work, which has included digging ditches, laying electrical cables, framing and putting on roofing.
Dellecker has volunteered for the organization since 1992, working with his hands as well as doing organizational work on committees and supporting the organization through the Sammamish Presbyterian Church.
Dellecker said he enjoys the work because it enables him to meet people he would not otherwise meet.
“You probably do meet them at the checkout line at a Safeway because they tend to be the ones handling in the community but you still don’t really get to meet them,” he said. “To me that’s the real reward is getting to stand beside these other people and find out what motivates them. Especially the families.”
Dellecker and Gram are part of a coalition of members of six churches in and around Sammamish who are currently doing Habitat work once a month in Redmond. The group is known as the Coalition to Build.
Gram, who has done volunteer work for the organization for more than ten years, is a member of Faith United Methodist Church.
“What motivates me, I think, is just seeing the end results of families who couldn’t afford a nice home being able to live in a nice home. Every time I go to a dedication it is the icing on the cake,” Gram said.
Les Nelson, a retired physician and a member of Pine Lake Covenant Church who lives in Sammamish, has done carpentry work for Habitat for Humanity under the supervision of skilled carpenters since 1995.
“Everything I’ve heard, and some things I’ve seen, make me think there is on the Eastside a need for affordable housing and that’s what we’re providing,” said Nelson, a retired physician who has lived in Providence Point since 2002.
“As Christians, we are admonished to help the poor and some of these people are poor and so it’s a natural and appropriate activity of the church,” Nelson said.
Sammamish residents are helping to build 24 three-story townhouses on 1.3 acres purchased by the city of Redmond. The homes, which have been under construction since 2004, will be known as the Patterson Park development.
Faith United Methodist Church donated $15,000 annually for the past 3-4 years for one of the townhouses at Patterson Park, Gram said.
Sammamish residents have also helped to construct the Koinonia Ridge project in Snoqualmie, a development of 50 single-family homes, started in 2002, on land provided by Weyerhaeuser Real Estate Company and the city of Snoqualmie.
Nelson said the work is enjoyable as well as beneficial. “It’s a very rewarding experience and we have a lot of fun. It’s hard work but we have a lot of fun and fellowship,” Nelson said.
Habitat for Humanity completed its first Sammamish home in 2000. The home has five bedrooms and sits on land that was sold to the organization by local residents Jerry and Joan Niehuas at a discounted price in 1999. It was the 17th house built by the East King County affiliate.
Volunteers said additional help is welcome. Gram said the organization would benefit from having more help from retirees because weekday availability is hard to find.
However, Dellecker and Gram said the primary challenge to building Habitat homes in Sammamish is not a lack of volunteer help but the high price of land.
Dellecker, who has been a member of the organization’s advisory board for six years, is currently working on a committee to try to find affordable land in the city for future building.
Gram is also concerned about the cost of acquiring land in Sammamish, which makes affordable home-building more difficult.
“It’s probably equally easy in just about any location but the problem we’ve got around here is the cost of land, so that’s going to be the real building block in the future,” Gram said. “I think that’s going to be the issue for just about every Habitat facility in the country.”
Reporter Emily Keller can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or ekeller@isspress.com.
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