Facing rising rents, Madison families find homes through Habitat for Humanity

Rising rent prices in Madison displace many low- to moderate- income families from housing. Dane County Habitat for Humanity provides an affordable option.

Cheryl McCollum, Communications and Advocacy Manager, said Habitat that typically asks families to pay 25 percent of their income toward their housing. Renting in Madison typically costs about 30 percent of a renter’s income.

Cherreka Janisch, who helped build a home for her family through Habitat for Humanity, said living in her new home is relaxing.

“It’s the feeling of being free from renting place to place,” she said. “It’s having to worry about landlords saying you can’t have this or that." 

It was also cheaper to build a home with Habitat than it is to rent in Madison, according to Janisch. The program offers a zero interest monthly mortgage that families pay through Habitat for anywhere between 20 to 30 years.

This is Habitat for Humanity’s 28th year working in Dane County, and they just closed on their 238th home. Of these homes, 167 of them are located in Madison with the highest concentrations in Twin Oaks, Northern Madison and the Town of Madison. Recently Habitat for Humanity has been building about 15 to 18 homes throughout Dane County each year. 

To support their work, Habitat hosts an annual “Souper Bowl” event on the weekend before the NFL Superbowl. Community members can purchase a handmade clay bowl, filled with soup.

Habitat hosted a throw-in event at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Memorial Union earlier this month, where students and community members could make a clay bowl to donate to the Souper Bowl.  

Staff at Wheelhouse Studios took care of the finishing touches, glazing and firing the bowls.

This February marks the 20th anniversary of the fundraiser. Souper Bowl XX will be held at Madison West High School on Feb. 6 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. All proceeds go toward construction costs for Habitat homes.

“What habitat is really offering is a hand up, not a hand out,” McCollum said.

Families who apply to build a home with Habitat must put in 325 to 375 hours in “sweat equity” – time spent building their home.

“From a female that’s more [used to being] inside doing household work… I’m not really an outside type of gal, so I overcame many of my fears,” Janisch said. “It’s also marriage counseling therapy and anger management.”

The Souper Bowl, a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity, will be held Feb. 6 at Madison West High School.Janisch said it was a great experience to work with the volunteers at Habitat and that she felt blessed doing so.  Habitat has about 3,000 volunteers, ranging in age from teenagers to senior citizens. 

“Habitat provides a place for senior citizens to volunteer and to connect with the community after they retire,” McCollum said. “A lot of them will tell me they are still alive because Habitat has given them a purpose.” 

Volunteers work with the family to construct the house or sell items at Habitat’s two area Re-Store locations. 

McCollum said working at Habitat has helped her understand the struggle that low- to moderate-income families face. 

“These are working families – they might be a head-start teacher or childcare provider, and family is really important to them,” she said. “They want a safe place for their kids and, like all parents, they want their kids to have a better life than they did.”

McCollum said the real beneficiaries of Habitat homes are the children. 

“We hear from parents all the time – when they have their own room to study, they can suddenly focus on homework,” said McCollum.

Habitat also changes parents’ lives.

“I never saw myself owning my own house,” Janisch said. “I heard so many scary stories about owning own home.  I didn’t want to go into debt and have to worry about collection.”