“Where everyone has a decent place to live.”
One phrase that carries a lot of weight.

What does it mean? Is it just a shelter over your head? Is it affordable housing? Is that it?

Absolutely not! It also includes home repairs to where a residence is, to keep it safe and sustainable for the inhabitants. One of our missions is to highlight one of the biggest challenges we ALL face as a community, affordable housing and keeping homes safe and economical for everyone living within it. We have home repair programs intended to provide funds for the rehabilitation or modification of owner-occupied, single family residential housing. Our program focuses on improvements that will reduce the long- term cost of homeownership, like energy efficiency improvements and removal of health risks.

Things we have to offer are:

Exterior work; like painting, patching, minor repair, replacement of materials for the purpose of maintenance and even landscaping.

Weatherization: This is a systematic repair process to an existing home based on a comprehensive energy audit that results in a defined scope of work.

Critical Home Repair: Which is extensive interior or exterior work performed to alleviate critical health, life and safety issues or code violations that also include a change to repair or change materials or components or a reconfiguration of space for accessibility growth; installations for extensions of plumbing, mechanical or electrical systems on existing structures.

“A decent place to live” is so much more than a roof over your head; it’s somewhere someone could thrive, a place someone can safely have their children or grandparents. Please contact us if you have questions.

Our program does require an application which would go to our Program Services Coordinator Hailey Jeter who can be reached by phone or email.

Hailey Jeter
231-597-4663 Ext.5
[email protected]

Why does accessibility matter?

Accessibility goes beyond adding a ramp to a home so a wheelchair or scooter can maneuver in and out safely or modifying a bathroom’s amenities. Accessibility is more than providing functionality, accessibility is making people feel welcome and safe regardless of their age or level of ability. When we commit ourselves to creating safer and affordable communities, it involves families of all abilities. Most homes in America are not built with aging in place, nor disability in mind. The cost of renovations to make a home accessible versus pre-planning accommodations and alterations are usually substantial. This requires extra electrical outlets for medical devices, wider hallways and doorways to maneuver, even the lowering of cabinets, cupboards or counters so the entire family can utilize their home to the fullest. Doing these things from scratch, or planning from the start, is much more time and cost effective than waiting later down the road to tackle these issues.

Based on information the CDC has collected, Michigan has a 26% disability rate among adults. This means that about one out of every four adults throughout Michigan has a disability. These disabilities range widely with 12% having mobility disabilities, 5% hearing impairments and 3% vision impairments, with some overlap. At any point our lifetimes, we have a 1 in 4 chance of becoming part of the disabled community. This can happen through genetics, an accident, health event, or even over time. There are steps we can take in our day-to-day life to lessen our chances but not eliminate them entirely.

How can we make it easier for all of us in the future? By planning. Not every home has to be built accessibly right off the bat. By taking one step and planning ahead, we can make a quarter of our community feel included rather than tolerated. We can assure that every individual has an opportunity to build a better and brighter future for themselves and their family. When making plans for future homes we should be mindful to keep modifications attractive, affordable, and abundant.

Why does accessibility matter?

Everyone deserves to have a safe and stable home that they can access to the fullest potential. An accessible home is the starting point for a life of freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for disabled individuals; something that every American, regardless of ability, can appreciate. When you partner with Cheboygan County Habitat for Humanity you support safety, freedom and stability for every hard-working family in our community.

-Baylee Herron, Marketing Coordinator

One day on our jobsite in Indian River I heard a new volunteer say, “By volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, I can be a part of the change I want to see in my community”. I turned and looked and it was Bob Snyder one of our local volunteers here at Cheboygan Habitat. Bob has been volunteering with Habitat for Humanity for several years. When he lived and worked near Detroit, he volunteered 5 times in and around Detroit with their Blitz Builds. Bob most recently volunteered in Indian River on the Habitat houses in Inland Lakes Subdivision. Bob is married and him and his wife raised two children who are grown now and living on their own. Much of his construction knowledge was gained by owning his own home and helping his children with their own homes. He recently retired from the automotive industry as an Automotive Manufacturing Engineer.

Last year at our Habitat Jobsite we also meet Mark who was here visiting Indian River for 4 weeks. He came out to our jobsite to help for a couple weeks.  In the past Mark had volunteered near his home in Texas, for a number of years, and he had traveled overseas to a number of different Habitat projects worldwide.  Now, Mark tries to volunteer near where he and his wife travel.  Mark is really a great guy with a cool way to meet local people and help out. Mark had a lot of interesting experiences that he shared with us all as we were working on the jobsite.

Everyone tries to be helpful on the jobsite. If someone needs some new skill for a task, someone will take the time to show how it’s done and how it’s done safely. The Habitat experience is “safety first.” If you don’t feel comfortable doing the task, no worries, some one that is comfortable can do it. At the end of the day I like to ask first-time volunteers, “how was your volunteer experience”? and invariably they tell me something positive.

Bob Snyder says, “I would encourage someone to come out and try it. They can come out once, once a week, or more often.  You meet some great people from all over, you can learn some useful skills, and you help fulfill a great need in the community.  I describe it as learning and doing home improvement using someone else’s money. If you want to be inspired and make a difference in our community, I highly encourage you to contact us for some volunteer opportunities near you. Trust me, the feeling of giving back is truly priceless.

-Ron Hart, Construction Supervisor

During our 30th Anniversary Gala in September we will be celebrating our first 30 years of serving our resilient community. In this time we have assisted more than 25 families with a hand up toward self-reliance and stability through affordable homeownership, home repairs and our work throughout the community. You can show your continued support of giving a hand up, not a hand out, to local hard working families by participating in one of our sponsorship opportunities. We have a wide range of ways you can support our mission and our event, from purchasing a ticket and attending to sponsoring a specialty drink.

To learn more visit the link below.