You don’t have to drive very far off the main roads in our state to see the need. While West Virginia has the highest per-capita home ownership rate in the country, we also have one of the highest poverty rates. Put these two factors together and you get lots of old houses with no money for upkeep and maintenance. It’s just a matter of time before a house is unlivable.

A great number of houses were built during the coal and lumber booms in the early part of the last century. These houses were hastily constructed and designed to be temporary, and yet many of these houses are still occupied today.

Still more houses are of the Jenny Lind board and batten construction with no insulation. Many have no plumbing and insufficient heat. A great many have dangerous electrical wiring.

According to the Center for Housing Policy, thirty percent of West Virginia’s population cannot afford the fair market rent in their area. Families with low to moderate incomes pay as much as 50% of their income for housing, leaving food and medical care as an unaffordable luxury for many.

West Virginians are a proud people and are reluctant to ask for help, but should this virtue sentence them and their children to live in inhumane conditions? Habitat for Humanity wishes to make decent shelter a matter of conscience.