History of Habitat for Humanity in Franklin County

In 1992 a group of concerned citizens gathered at a public meeting to discussing low-income housing needs in Franklin County. During that meeting a steering committee was formed to begin a local Habitat affiliate (chapter) and in 1994 our affiliation with Habitat for Humanity International was approved. Thus, in 2004 we celebrated ten years of community action to build affordable homes for low-income families.

In those ten years we built seven homes (519 W. 2nd, 726 Cypress, 730 Cypress, 613 N. Hickory, 832 S. Elm, 210 E. Powhattan, 610 S. Walnut), remodeled homes on N. Cedar and S. Elm, and painted over 25 homes. We have helped 16 low-income families with housing needs, which included almost 50 individuals with either a new home or a major renovation.

Who did all of this? Church groups, civic organizations, business teams, professional craftsmen, and hundreds of community people have worked alongside partner families to achieve this goal. The Church of the Brethren and Westminster Presbyterian Churches have each sponsored the construction of a new home, as did our local Wal*Mart associates. In addition to gifts of time, materials donated by dozens of area businesses and cash contributions from hundreds of concerned citizens have contributed to this tremendous record of success here in Franklin County.

When we began planning for 2005 and we wanted to shoot for a record year – maybe two homes. So the dream became the beginnings of reality when a group of employess from the Wal*Mart Distribution Center agreed to provide labor on one home for framing and all exterior work. The groundbreaking took place in September of 2005 and these two homes are side by side at 831 & 835 S. Pecan. Pictures of this project are at the top of this page and in our Photo Gallery.

We invite you to have a look around in our Photo Gallery. We’ve been busy!

P.O. Box 291, Ottawa, KS 66067 * 785-242-2600 * infoATfranklincountyhabitat.org (replace AT with @)