Habitat homes nourish community

In these days of campaigns and promises we hear a lot about the

future of our country, our state -- our community of Costa Mesa. We

all want what is best for tomorrow, but we don’t have the money to

make all the changes. But there is an avenue for long-term permanent

change available today and it will cost us nothing and reap a lot of

benefits.

It’s Habitat for Humanity and their request for a general plan

amendment to build eight additional single-family units on a 1.5-acre

property in Costa Mesa.

I am a construction volunteer with Habitat and a resident and

business owner in Costa Mesa. Unfortunately, it does not surprise me

that there is resistance from the neighbors -- there always is

(“Low-cost housing project stirs debate,” Sept. 15). But I cannot

understand why. Look at the homes we have built here and the effect

they have on the neighborhood. There are two projects on Del Mar

Avenue that are lovely and are some of the best-maintained units on

the street. As we built those houses the neighbors who fought us came

to apologize. They went from using pejorative terms like “porch pigs”

to remodeling their properties to look as good as the Habitat homes.

Three years later, they are still beautifully maintained and a boost

to property values all around.

As for those long-term benefits, we build these houses for

successive generations. It has been verified that children who are in

safe and decent housing will be less likely to drop out of school,

get pregnant or be involved with drugs or violence. Who could want to

stop that? And the benefits are compounded when those children turn

the advantage of decent affordable housing to better education and

earning power and, in turn, provide a more secure life for their

children. And so it goes.

In the short term: Habitat builds attractive houses that are

proven to be well-maintained by the families. In the long term they

bring committed, appreciative members to the community, who will

improve their quality of life and require less from government

support agencies. They increase their spending power and the Costa

Mesa business owners increase sales. Without these houses, the land

is not used well and no one is well-served by Costa Mesa.

I strongly urge the planning commissioners who will be studying

this to take a long view and to think about the future of the land

and of the children.

MARY ANN O’CONNELL

Costa Mesa