Next summer four new houses will be built in Mower county and Freeborn county. Usually that isn’t newsworthy, but for a branch of Habitat for Humanity on the grow in the two counties, it’s worth note.

&uot;We’re hoping to break ground on all of them in the spring,&uot; Connie Smith, the Vista liaison for Freeborn/Mower Habitat for Humanity, said.

It wasn’t until two months ago that Habitat opened up a liaison office in Albert Lea. Their main office has always been in Austin. Smith says she hopes the office location will help more families in Freeborn County to use the organization.

&uot;I think by opening up here we might be more visible to this community,&uot; Smith said. &uot;Hopefully that will bring more people in so we can get them into houses.&uot;

Habitat for Humanity International was founded in 1976 and since its inception has built more than 125,000 houses.

Habitat for Humanity has existed in the two-county area for 11 years. So far they’ve built 17 houses: seven in Freeborn County and ten in Mower County.

The organization builds houses for low-income families who might otherwise not be able to afford a house. The houses are built by volunteers and the people who get the houses at two-thirds of the assessed value of the property and pay that off in a long-term, interest-free mortgage.

In addition to the mortgage, the family is also to give 250 to 450 &uot;sweat hours&uot; &045; hours of construction work on their own house and other Habitat houses.

The organization is funded through grants, churches and private donations. Smith said she hopes to get more churches in the area involved now that they have an office in Albert Lea.

Smith says the group is also looking for volunteers locally, both in construction as well as on committees.

&uot;The construction is fun,&uot; she said. &uot;You don’t necessarily have to know anything about building to do it. You just sort of pick it up as you go along.&uot;

Each site has a construction supervisor who provides instructions to first-time builders.

How can these houses be any good with no real construction crews on them?

Smith told a story about Hurricane Hugo to get her point across on this issue.

She said that when Hurricane Hugo ripped through Florida four years ago, only a few houses remained standing in the area. Habitat houses made up a large number of those houses.

President Jimmy Carter, an active member of Habitat, once said the houses are built so strong because the volunteers use so many nails to put them up.

The quality of the houses, Smith assured, is high.

Smith encourages people to utilize the organization.

&uot;We are always looking for families,&uot; she said. &uot;We really want to get people in houses. Some people think that their credit history or income is too small or bad for us, but most times they aren’t.&uot;