Submitted by Mark Gideon, USDA Rural Development Single Family Housing Specialist
USDA Rural Development State Director Tony Logan, more than 40 volunteers from local community organizations, and USDA Rural Development staff came together last month for a self-help housing volunteer work day to benefit three Southeastern Ohio families. The families will soon be moving into new homes they help build under the supervision of Three Rivers Housing Corporation of Athens, Ohio. The project, located in The Plains, Ohio, was financed through the USDA Rural Development’s Self-Help Housing Program in a partnership with the Ohio Housing Finance Authority.
A unique feature of the Three Rivers project is its use of locally-harvested, milled and assembled solid oak cabinetry. Local entrepreneur Jeromy Smith of Smith Woodworking in nearby Albany, Ohio, furnished the beautiful solid oak kitchen cabinetry at a price essentially equal to that charged by stores for veneer product. And Jeromy personally volunteered for the work day to make sure the cabinets were properly installed.
Rural Development’s Self-Help Housing Program has helped more than 200 rural Ohio families realize the dream of owning their own home. The Self-Help Housing Program is one of several that Rural Development administers throughout Ohio to help meet the growing housing needs of the state’s rural residents.
