The City of Kissimmee hosted an open house on Thursday, July 18th which celebrated the completion of a home reconstruction project using State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) funds administered by the City of Kissimmee and in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County. The home, which belongs to Vivian Brinson, an 80-year-old woman that has lived in the house for the past 25 years was selected through an application process in 2018 to receive comprehensive rehabilitation/renovation work; however, given the home’s condition, it was more cost-effective to completely reconstruct a new home and allowing the City to make its SHIP dollars go farther.
“It’s through partnerships like those between the City of Kissimmee and Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County where we show how governments and non-profits can work together to keep families in their homes,” said Mayor José Álvarez.
To maximize the energy efficiency of the home and reduce the long-term cost of utilities for the homeowner, the house was built to a minimum of Florida Green Building Coalition Silver Standards.
“Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County looks forward to building a solid, long-standing and impactful partnership with the City of Kissimmee through new construction and rehabilitation and repair initiatives,” said Catherine Steck McManus, President, and CEO of Habitat Orlando & Osceola.
The entire project cost of $168,388 was covered using SHIP funds and took approximately six months to complete. The City of Kissimmee places a 30-year deferred forgivable loan on the properties that participate in the Demolition and Reconstruction Program. The loan will become due and payable if: 1) the property goes into foreclosure; 2) death of all recipients on the mortgage; 3) rental of the property; 4) sale of the property prior to the 30-year anniversary of closing on property; or 5) cash equity is taken out within the 30-year loan term.
Florida Housing administers the State Housing Initiatives Partnership program (SHIP), which provides funds to local governments based on population as an incentive to create partnerships that produce and preserve affordable homeownership and multifamily housing to serve very low, low-and moderate-income families.
