Photos: Greg Blockley			Habitat for Humanity:
						Low interest rate mortgages, reduced closing costs and volunteer labor combine to reduce the cost of a home, making homeownership possible for many Texas families through Habitat for Humanity.
						(left) A home under construction by Habitat for Humanity.
		Opportunities for low-income families to own their own home
		• Habitat has built more than 60,000 homes nationally since its founding in 1976. It is one of the nation's top 20 homebuilders. • Median sales price of Habitat homes nationwide is $33,478. • Average mortgage payment is $269 per month. • Mortgage payments average 12 percent of the homeowners' incomes. • 43% of families who bought a home from Habitat earned less than one-half of the median household income.
								The Buenrostro family's new home in San Antonio.
					To Whom It May Concern: My name is Ben Buenrostro. My wife, Maria and I have been married for eleven years and have three children - two boys and a girl. We are proud and happy first-time homeowners thanks to God and Habitat for Humanity. If it had not been for Habitat for Humanity, I don’t know if we would have ever had the opportunity to own a home. We applied for a conventional bank mortgage several times but were always denied. I am a carpenter and my jobs were seasonal. I guess the banks thought I was a bad risk because sometimes my contracts ran out. But I have always been able to find work. I have always tried to better my family and myself.
			Last year my brother told me about Habitat for Humanity and encouraged me to volunteer because they needed carpenters. My wife and I started volunteering at different house buildings. I really enjoyed the experience. My wife and I volunteered for about a year and then when people realized we did not own a home, they encouraged us to apply to be Habitat homeowners. We were accepted and soon began working on our own home. I was so excited because I had told my wife from the day we married "Someday, I’m going to build you a house." And thanks to Habitat, I now had that chance!. We were required to put in 300 hours of "sweat equity" on our home, but we worked 600 hours. When we completed the house, I said to my wife "I told you I would build you a house!" Our new neighborhood is wonderful. It feels like a big family. We are members of the Homeowners Association, so we know most of our neighbors. I'm so grateful that Habitat for Humanity was able to help our family reach our dream. - Ben Buenrostro