No Place Like Home Family Of Five Will Move Into The First Silver Valley House Built By Habitat For Humanity
A year ago, Bob and Lisa Lane were living in a converted chicken coop, contending with a leaky roof, rotting wood beams and termites.
“We had 1-inch cracks in the walls,” recalled Bob Lane. “We filled them with paper.”
Soon, the family of five will move into a new three-bedroom house in Kingston. It’s the first Habitat for Humanity home in the Silver Valley.
It’s sorely needed. With one-third of the county’s homes dating back to the tail end of the Great Depression, Shoshone County housing is among the oldest in the state. Only two counties - Oneida and Bear Lake, both in southeastern Idaho - have older housing. According to the 1990 census, 250 of Shoshone County’s homes “lack complete plumbing facilities.”
At the same time, the county’s historically low housing prices are soaring, real estate agents say. The reasons: a ripple effect of Coeur d’Alene commuters seeking affordable homes and rising property values from the Kellogg ski area.
“About three years ago, for $350 you could rent a fairly nice home here. Now you’re looking at $600 to $650,” said Linda Ufford, of VIP Property Management in Kellogg.
“What are your choices in the Silver Valley for people who can’t get a conventional loan? Pay that high rent,” said Verne Blalack of Cataldo. “We have quite a few during the summer who camp out in the forest. Some people have to do that just to get by.”
Blalack is treasurer of the Silver Valley Habitat for Humanity chapter, formed 18 months ago to help struggling families buy new homes.
Habitat for Humanity, based in Georgia, uses donated materials and volunteer labor to build modest homes which then are sold to the families for a small interest-free mortgage. There are 34 Habitat homes in Spokane, two in Athol, Idaho, one in Coeur d’Alene and one in Sandpoint.
More than 100 people helped build the group’s first home. Twelve churches, 17 service clubs and 118 Silver Valley and Coeur d’Alene businesses donated cash, materials and professional labor.
“People are interested in putting their money and effort into something where they can see the results,” said Judy Blalack, Verne’s wife and secretary of the Habitat chapter. “This is a visual and concrete effort to help your neighbor.”
Bob and Lisa Lane donated more than 1,000 hours of labor, painting, nailing, wallboarding and roofing the home.
“They know the house from the bottom up,” said Verne Blalack.
The family will pay a 30-year mortgage of $150 per month.
Bob Lane said the family had been trying to get a Habitat home for years, applying several times in Kootenai County and always coming in second. He gets disability payments after he was shot in the head 12 years ago as a U.S. Marine Corps security guard. Lisa Lane works part-time as a custodian for the local Catholic Church.
Verne Blalack said the Habitat chapter now hopes to buy three lots north of Osburn. An Osburn concrete company has donated a lot in Woodlawn Park, north of Wallace. The city of Mullan also is considering donating land to the group, he said.
“People like to help people willing to help themselves,” he said.