Extension Workers Build on Habitat-for-Humanity’s 21^st Century Challenge

Extension personnel involved in the Habitat for Humanity Jimmy Carter Work Project in Anniston included, left to right: Dr. Harry Strawn, Extension economist and Alabama Radon Program coordinator; Debby Mathews, Extension coordinator, Cleburne County; Sabrina Lyle, Madison County radon education technician; and John Lyle, Sabrina’s husband, a conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Madison County who served as a project volunteer. 

Auburn, June 16, 2003 --- Alabama Cooperative Extension workers in north Alabama are adding an extra level of commitment to Habitat for Humanity founder Millard Fuller’s pledge to replace substandard housing with safe, affordable homes in 20 years.

They are working to ensure not only that the homes are free of potentially deadly radon gas but that the new occupants are primed for the financial challenges of homeownership.

Extension’s radon effort was sparked by a phone call from Habitat International representative Jennifer Langton, who wanted to know if Extension could help equip every home in Habitat’s Jimmy Carter Work Project in Anniston with a radon-mitigation system.

“Before my brain engaged with my mouth, I said, ‘Why sure we can!’” recalled Sabrina Lyle, an Extension radon education technician in Madison County.

In only a few weeks, Lyle was able to build a working partnership involving several public and private organizations. 

“We’re working with volunteers from every sector involved in radon mitigation, testing and education,” she said, “and with the same goal in mind – making sure all of these homes are radon-resistant.”

Partners include the American Association of Radon Scientists and Technologists (AARST), the Southern Regional Radon Training Center (SRRTC) at Auburn University, Radalink, Radon Control, Inc. (RCI), Radonaway and Fantech.

Partner organizations underwrote the entire cost of the effort, Lyle said, which made it possible to equip all 35 homes in the Anniston Habitat neighborhood with active radon-mitigation systems.

“That way the new homeowner doesn’t have to worry with the cost of activating them later,” Lyle said. 

Each new homeowner will also be equipped with a pouch containing a wide array of radon-related educational materials as well as a radon testing kit that will enable them to do their own post-occupancy testing.

“This is really the first time Extension has worked with Habitat for Humanity to do a large-scale community development activity,” said Dr. Harry Strawn, an Alabama Cooperative Extension economist and radon program coordinator.  “We have the opportunity to work with private industry and other organizations to help build a new community where one did not exist before, and that’s community development at its best.”

Extension agents in Calhoun and Cleburne counties are also working to ensure these new occupants are well-equipped for the demands of homeownership.

Cleburne County Extension Agent Debby Mathews teaches a five-week money management course tailored to new Habitat owners, while Calhoun County Agent Issac Chappell has provided both money management training and one-on-one financial counseling.

“Some of [the new homeowners] have had serious credit problems starting out, so it’s really important that we do a good job educating,” said Mathews.  “As homeowners, they’re on their own and can no longer rely on landlords for maintenance and repairs.”

“They’re taught to be very careful about budgeting expenses for emergency situations and repairs – those unexpected expenses.  For many it’s a new concept.”

Additional financial training has also been provided by Calhoun County Extension Agents Marchale Burton and Ruth Sauro, who teach a Master Shopper course. 

So far, the training appears to have paid off for the new homeowners.

“They have been able to keep their expenses under control,” Mathew observed.  “No one has had a mortgage foreclosed through this Habitat chapter.  And we’re talking about 80 houses that already have been constructed.”

Begun in Americus, Ga., more than a quarter century ago, Habitat for Humanity has grown into a worldwide Christian ministry that has built nearly 150,000 homes and provided some 750,000 people in more than 3,000 communities with safe, affordable shelter, Fuller said.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who, along with his wife Rosalynn, first became involved with Habitat for Humanity in 1984, joined Fuller and more than 3,500 volunteers to help with construction in the new Anniston neighborhood June 9. 

(Sources: Sabrina Lyle, Madison County Extension Radon Education Technician, 256-532-1578; Dr. Harry Strawn, Extension Economist and Alabama Radon Program Coordinator, 334-3688; and Debby Mathews, Cleburne County Extension Agent-Coordinator, 256-463-2620.)

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