EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

We all watch the news. We know about the burglaries. We know about shootings. We know they are happening in Rockford and are not contained to just a few blocks on “that street.” This problem isn’t limited to one house, one street, or one neighborhood. It is a community problem.

Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity (RAHFH) volunteers and homeowners are not going to solve Rockford’s crime problem. Homeownership alone will not solve it either. There are people a lot smarter than us who are trying to find solutions to neighborhood violence.

We are encouraged to increase partnerships among city municipalities, neighborhood watch groups, nonprofit organizations, schools, churches. You name it. We have a small population in our community that hasn’t learned to respect their neighbor’s property or life. But our entire community suffers the consequences.

What role can RAHFH do to fight this epidemic? We can partner with families who currently live in substandard house to help them secure the financing they need to become homeowners.

It is our hope that families who finally have an affordable monthly mortgage payment won’t be forced to take 2nd jobs or work extra shifts to pay sky-high utility costs in poorly insulated rental housing. If parents can work a regular work week, they have more time to spend raising their children. Reading to them. Teaching them right from wrong.

If parents are paying $450 - $500 a month in mortgage payments and not $650 - $700 a month in rent, maybe they can pay a trusted friend to sit with their kids while they are working 2nd or 3rd shift? The alternative would be kids at home alone without parental guidance or support. No one to teach them consequences.

RAHFH can educate families through our quarterly newsletters on how to be a good homeowner. How to recognize gang activity on your street or in your own home. Rockford Habitat can be a resource for homeowners looking for advice on how to communicate with a neighbor that might allow questionable activity.

Our community is getting tired of this violent reputation. We are all growing weary of guarding our purses as we approach a grocery store. We especially want to see the children of Rockford given an opportunity to grow into productive members of society. There are so many entities that can and do work together to improve our situation.

I am hopeful that these entities will continue to communicate, analyze and address our situation. Together, there is hope. Together we can find peace.

Tonya Thayer

Habitat for Humanity International is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry, working in partnership with people in need to build and renovate decent, affordable housing. The houses then are sold to those in need at no profit and with no interest charged.