4/11/2025
In 1999, the first Bennington County Habitat for Humanity home was completed in Pownal, Vermont. The recipient of this first home was a lovely family of five with three children. The 4 bedroom home took us nearly three years to even start, taking a year and a half just to meet the strict criteria to become a Habitat for Humanity affiliate. It took another year and a half to obtain the funding, land, and find a family that qualified to partner with.
In an article written by one of the homeowners in 2013, they reflected on the whole process of building and buying their home, talking in great detail about the whole process, from acceptance to closing. He wrote about finding the perfect plot of land for their house, saying “They [Habitat] knew as well as I did that this lot had to be the one.” The lot was being sold at a discount since it was the last one available in a ten year old development. The land was purchased later that same week, and construction began with a team clearing the land and digging a cellar not long after. The partner family started working with the construction crew, setting up the forms for the footings and foundation to help move along the process after a member of the crew had been injured while clearing trees off the lot.
They continued working alongside a crowd of volunteers who would dedicate their time every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Over 30 different Bennington County Habitat board members, volunteers, and relatives showed up every week to help build their home. The home was completed in six and a half months, much sooner than anyone had anticipated for such a large project. The house was built in memory of Marge Pratt, a founding member of the Bennington County Habitat for Humanity who unfortunately passed before this house was completed.
Back when this home was built, the required income to be accepted into the program (30-80% of the area’s median income, or AMI) was only $14,000 to $25,000. To put it into perspective, currently the required income for a family of five is between $36,580 and $86,150. In order to be accepted, families would need to meet three separate criteria. These criteria included a need for safe shelter, the ability to pay for their home, and a willingness to partner with Habitat for Humanity, just like we require today. Families also had to have a good credit history and be able to pay for the closing costs of the home, as well as a $500 down payment.
Families also had to complete a total of 500 hours of “sweat equity” in order to qualify for a Habitat home. These hours could be completed by family members or friends by working on the construction site or with the Bennington County Habitat for Humanity. Families were required to complete a series of homeowner workshops that covered matters related to owning a home, including financial counseling and household management education.
Currently the process is similar, requiring a total of 200 volunteer hours from each adult buying a Habitat home, 100 of which must be completed on the construction site. Family and friends may contribute hours of their own volunteer time toward the total 200 that needs to be completed. Homeowners are also still required to complete financial counseling and household management education workshops to help prepare them for affordable homeownership.
Since our first home was completed in 1999, nearly 40 more houses have been built in the Bennington County area, the latest being dedicated just three weeks ago in Bennington. This totals 159 individuals having moved into Habitat Homes since 1999, with 15 more individuals currently in the program.
Volunteers Constructing the Very First Habitat Home in Southern Vermont
We are excited to continue our legacy of providing safe and affordable housing for the residents of Bennington County, and we look forward to seeing how many families we can supply with “a hand up” over the next 26 years. While Bennington County Habitat for Humanity has changed throughout the years, we are still dedicated to our mission of bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope.
