She received, and now she gives

Milissa Looker, a 61-year-old cosmetologist, is working two jobs and cutting hair on the side.

But she still found the time to volunteer more than 20 hours during the recent Habitat for Humanity Blitz Build, a two-week intensive effort to provide housing for nine low-income Spokane families.

Looker was joined by more than 1,600 volunteers who logged a cumulative 9,000 hours raising walls, installing wiring, laying floor and performing the numerous tasks necessary to create the condo community in the Chief Garry Park neighborhood.

All nine units were expected to be occupant-ready within three weeks of the build, which ended June 16, says Habitat-Spokane’s Executive Director, Michone Preston.

This isn’t the first time Looker put in extra hours to support the nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that helps people living in poverty attain home ownership. She has been volunteering since 2004, when she helped build her own Habitat home, a cozy two-bedroom, one bath that shares a shady, flower-laced courtyard with three other Habitat homes just across the street from the new condos.

Back then Looker was working three jobs to make ends meet while taking 22 credits at the Community Colleges to earn her cosmetology degree. In what little time she had left over, she slept in a small rented room.

Even with the three jobs her income was between 20 and 50 percent of Spokane’s median income, meeting Habitat’s low-income requirement. She also met the other criteria; she lived in substandard housing and she didn’t have unmanageable debt.

“I’m a good money handler. But banks don’t care how you handle your money,” says Looker, referring to how hard it is to qualify for a home loan. “I can live on that shoestring, but they don’t want to risk their money when your income is low.”

All of these circumstances made her an ideal candidate for Habitat’s program, but she didn’t think she would qualify for the zero-interest home loan because she was single. However, Habitat follows fair housing laws and does not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status.

“When I was accepted, I about fainted,” she says. “I thought I didn’t ever have a chance of getting a home.”

Once accepted she had to save $1,500 for closing costs and put in 500 hours of sweat equity, 100 of that on her soon-to-be home. It was a challenge, but Looker was driven.

Preston says she quickly became an inspiration and encouragement to other applicants. She didn’t eat out, go to movies or buy any of life’s little luxuries. And she worked off her sweat equity hours before, after and in between classes and work shifts. In the end, she put in 558 sweat equity hours and earned an impressive 3.99 grade-point average at school.

“I’m a pretty energetic person,” she says. “And I just love Habitat. Everyone who sits in my chair for a haircut hears about Habitat.”

She raves about the opportunity to realize home ownership as well as the sense of community that invariably develops on a building site.

“You know your neighbors and become friends before you ever move into your house,” she says. “It’s like being in a big family. It’s a connection that lasts forever.”

Since moving into her home, Looker continued her education and earned an instructor’s certificate this spring, a personal goal she says would not have been possible without the affordable housing from Habitat.

Most Spokane families who qualify for Habitat Homes have been spending at least 30 percent of their income on rent, says Preston. With Habitat’s program they can purchase a home, interest-free, for the cost of materials and land. The homebuyers cover closing costs, which now average $2,000, on top of the requisite 500 hours of sweat equity.

If the home is sold, the homeowner pays off the first mortgage and a second mortgage equal to the difference between the first mortgage and the home’s appraised value. Those dollars all go back into the program to enable more people to buy homes.

But Looker says she doesn’t plan on ever selling her 844 square foot home with the rosy pink carpet that matches her disposition and outlook.

“I never expected to have anything this nice. It is a mansion for me.”