Florida Home Partnership
GET TO KNOW SOUTHSHORE
LEARNING SELF-RELIANCE & A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE
Jessica cleaning up her future home's construction site after a day of hard work!
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elf-help participants are working hard on their new affordable homes through the USDA Mutual-Self Help housing programs that Florida Home Partnership (FHP) has provided for thirty years. "In that time we've helped over a thousand people achieve their dream of homeownership," says Vanessa Josey, Chief Operating Officer. “Our goal is to help people meet their dreams of home ownership while building selfreliance and living a healthy lifestyle.” FHP is Hillsborough County’s leading non-profit certified affordable home builder. Last year they received a $240,000 Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP) Loan from the Housing Assistance Council (HAC). The funds were used to assist with the development of more than 30 Self-Help Villas in Wimauma. These homes are available to families earning 80 percent or below median income, using “sweat equity” to help build their own home through the USDA Mutual Self-Help Program. Participants work together in groups on their neighbors’ houses at the same time as their own. The homeowners become an integral part of the construction. “Housing affordability is a huge
Gaspar Ortega, FHP’s Senior Construction Coordinator showing participants what areas to caulk and prep for exterior painting. Participants learn a lot about home maintenance.
issue throughout Tampa Bay that extends to the surrounding rural areas and the entire country. When we support and partner with an organization like FHP, we are helping to solve the problem and offer community members not just affordable housing, but a sustainable lifestyle that they will benefit from far into the future," said Eileen Neely, Director of Lending at HAC. The Housing Assistance Council is a national nonprofit lending organization that supports affordable housing efforts throughout rural America. About FHP Founded in 1993, Florida Home Partnership strives to empower residents to achieve the American Dream of home ownership to lowerincome families for which the opportunity of home ownership would otherwise be unattainable. FHP has developed communities throughout Tampa Bay. www.flhome.org.
Kimberly, working hard with her wheelbarrow full of tools, is cleaning up an affordable new home construction site.
"In 30 years we've helped over a thousand people achieve their dream of home ownership."
Homeowners, volunteers, friends and family head out to put in sweat equity hours on their homes and the homes of their neighbors.
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