Habitat brings hope to the city

Urban renewal helps to provide more homes for the needy

“Hindi ko naisip na magiging ganito ang buhay namin. Akala ko, habang buhay na lang kami sa squatters. Akala ko habang buhay sasalubong ang amoy ng maruming kanal pag gising ko bawa’t umaga.” (“I never thought that our life could be this way. I thought that all our life, we would live in the squatters area. I thought that I’d live all my life catching the stench of the canal each morning as I wake up.”) Aling Dinia Alas relates.

Today, all that is past and Aling Dinia and her children now live in comfortable, clean sorroundings. The Alas family was one of 96 families who benefited from the FTI Rotaryville Family Townhomes project in FTI Complex, Taguig City. The project started in 2006, when the local government of Taguig, headed by Mayor Freddie Tinga, set his sights on eradicating poverty housing in his city. With the help of Habitat for Humanity Philippines, the Taguig City LGU was able to jumpstart the project utilizing a 5-hectare lot to serve more than 800 families. Houses in the project have a floor space of 26 sq.m and includes a 9 sq.m common area. Tenants have the option to build a loft, thus increasing the living space by 50 percent more.

In the same year, the Rotagonist brothers helped residents living along the Tripa de Galina creek in Pasay City to find decent homes through Habitat for Humanity. In the SHEC project site in Pasay City, 500 home partners are now enjoying their new homes. The project owner, St. Hannibal Empowerment Center (SHEC), led by Fr. Dexter Prudencio, has long been involved in transforming the community. Values formation, financial literacy and spiritual enhancement are only a few of many programs being developed within the community to enable them to achieve sustainability.

Last year, the City Government of Pasig and Habitat for Humanity Philippines celebrated a milestone as they broadened their partnership in providing the homeless residents of Pasig City the opportunity to own decent, affordable and quality homes. The Pasig City local government, with the help of Habitat, seeks to serve over 500 families. Those living along danger zones will be relocated to medium-rise buildings in Brgy. Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City.

Habitat takes urban housing to the next level

Projects such as those in Pasay, Pasig, and Taguig sites fall under Habitat’s Urban Renewal Program, which seeks to efficiently and affordably provide homes for the needy with the use of appropriate technology. Since land in the city is expensive and scarce, Habitat and its team of technical experts have conceptualized medium rise condominium type structures to house its home partners. It builds new communities in place of blighted ones to give residents better access to ensure the health and safety of residents and provide them greater access to basic necessities such as shelter and water. Families who live in the slums often face countless dangers in their environment. Their children are often susceptible to disease, sinc emost live along ditry rivers and creeks, have no clean, running water and no proper human waste disposal facilities.

The collective power of many

Habitat cannot eradicate poverty by itself. In order to build an efficient and effective community, Habitat works with groups that share Habitat for HUmanity’s vision of a world where everyone has a safe, decent and affordable place to call home. Partner organizations, such as SHEC, contribute expertise, financial resources, or both, and often volunteer labor to strengthen the impact of Habitat’s programs. Other groups, particularly non-governmental organizations and government agencies contribute services and facilities that Habitat home partner families need to live fully transformed lives in thriving and secure communities. Individuals, groups, organizations, and corporations alike have the option of contributing to the work of Habitat for Humanity in nay of the following ways:
– land donation;
– financial donation for the construction of houses or improvement of community infrastracture and facilities;
– donation of construction supplies, materials, equipment, tools, fixures, and other resources for building houses, and community centers;
– provision of discounts on construction supplies, materials, equipment, tools or fixtures to HFHP;
– financial donation in support of soft programs for community development;
volunteer services for build projects and conduct capacity building programs in the community.

In Baseco, where the steel-frame technology is used to help house 1,000 families, partners such as World Vision, ING Bank, and Angelo King Foundation have all pitched in to provide education, a learning center and a community center, respectively, for the benefit of home partners. With their contributions, children have access to education while their parents have a decent place to convene within the community.

Housing as a gateway to a better future

Habitat brings to these communities a chance to live in decent, affordable and durable houses using two types of technology – New Zealand’s steel-frame technologu and/or the home-grown Concrete Interlocking Blocks. Both technologies are volunteer-friendly, efficient and extremely durable. To help make the community more holistic, soft program partners are brought in for community development. Habitat’s partners conduct workshops and training seminars on values formation, livelihood skills development, education, environmental care, health, safety and financial literacy. Mobilizing other organizations in house and community building greatly help Habitat reach its goal of making its home partner communities sustainable even after Habitat and its partners have long left. With the Urban Renewal Program, Habitat Home partners are given the chance to uplift themselves from poverty by leading them towards the direction of success. –Philippine Daily Inquirer