Habitat Families Must Earn Their Keys
By Ashley Dawson
Murray High School

Fleeing a life of fear and constant danger in war-torn Somalia, Omar Muse and Ubah Adan each came to the United States attracted by the promise of peace and freedom.
They met and married and settled in Louisville. They worked hard, but tough economic times kept them from achieving their dream of owning a home. Now that dream has come true, thanks to Habitat for Humanity, which partnered with the Governor’s Scholars Program of Kentucky to build a house for Omar, Ubah and their family.
“I heard about Habitat from an aunt,” Ubah said. “I saw her house, and I liked it. And it’s better for my kids too.”
Little did she realize how long and how difficult it would be to make that dream come true.
First came the preapplication. Thousands of preapplications are completed annually at Habitat and then screened by the Family Services Coordinator for outstanding debt. About 1,000 of them are sent to Habitat for the full application. Once that six-page document is filled out and verified, only 100 families will advance to the interview.
“We turned in our application January 30th. A week later we got a letter saying we approved for interview,” Ubah said. During the interview, families meet with the Family Services Coordinator to review all the submitted documents.
Jackie Isaacs, Family Services Coordinator of Louisville, said the interview process includes going through the documents with a fine-tooth comb, informing the family about the process, and giving them a chance to ask questions.”
    The Family Service Coordinator then meets with the family and informs them about the building process, sweat equity, and the cost of the house.
    If the applicants qualify and agree to the conditions, their file is sent to the Family Selection Committee for a vote. Of the original 1,000 applications, only 30 are approved each year.
    And of course, Omar and Ubah made the cut.
“Oh my gosh! I was so happy,” Ubah said “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! Is it true?’”
Habitat encourages new families to start the program immediately. There is much to be done before even one nail is hammered.

The GSP Habitat house completed in four weeks.

“They have to go through budget classes, home maintenance classes, (and) neighborhood classes,” said Chuck Sgro, volunteer team leader at the family’s construction site.
After about three weeks of class, the family has the opportunity to pick among three plots of land to build on, and that can be a hard decision.
“The family is kind of pressured to pick one of the three plots of land. If they turn down all three, they return to the bottom of the list,” Sgro said.
Once the land is chosen, Habitat begins building the house. Each family is required to put in 400 “sweat equity” hours, working on their house and on other Habitat projects.
“Omar and I were so excited to start building,” Ubah said. “By March, we started doing sweat equity hours on other Habitat projects. We did 100 sweat equity hours in one week.” Ubah and Omar far surpassed the 400 required sweat equity hours.
Most Habitat houses are built by 40 volunteers, and the process takes about three months. Omar and Ubah didn’t know it when they applied, but their home was going to special. Habitat had partnered with Kentucky’s Governor’s Scholars program to allow 360 upcoming high school seniors to work on the house. The house would be completed while the scholars were attending the program for five weeks at Bellarmine University.
The work was done in a record-setting four weeks, and Omar and Ubah’s Habitat experience was truly unique. While putting in the “sweat equity” on their house, they were surrounded by dozens of equally sweaty teens – new friends that they would never forget and who would never forget them.