TULSA, Okla. — A problem on the rise in Green Country is the growing lack of affordable housing. To help fight this, a program was started earlier this year by Green County Habitat for Humanity and Tulsa Public Schools helping teachers obtain down payments for homes.
On Saturday night, May 3, they helped fund the initiative in a fun way.
2 News Oklahoma listened to local Habitat leaders about the need that they’re trying to meet and to a teacher they helped.
"This is our annual gala, 'Rock the House.' This year the theme is Neon Rodeo," GCHFH's president and CEO, Cameron Walker, told 2 News.
"We're celebrating 90s country, so a lot of fun for us Okies and coming together and celebrate an amazing year for Green Country habitat," he added.
When asked if there is a unique need among local public school teachers for housing, Rob Gardenhire replied, “Absolutely.”
“So, while we can't do anything with teacher pay,” he continued, “we can help them through this program by offering up to $50,000 per teacher household in down payment assistance in our program.”
The initiative is called “Education Begins with Home.”
Gardenhire, GCHFH’s vice president of development, told us a big goal of the program is to not only help recruit new TPS teachers but to also retain the current ones.
“I mean, any way that we can support our Tulsa Public Schools and provide housing at the same time, I mean, that's good — not just for us and for Tulsa Public Schools, but it's really good for the whole city as we look to attract new businesses and workforce to the area,” he said.
Walker said, “Programs like Habitat for Humanity are critical to allowing people that are in the workforce, that have good jobs, that are doing all the right things, but they've simply been priced out of the market due to no fault of their own.”
Francisco Martinez is one of the teachers they've helped out so far. He teaches seventh-grade social studies at East Central High School.
When asked if finding an affordable home was tricky, Martinez replied, “Yeah, finding a good, sustainable place."
"I mean, Tulsa is affordable. I'm from California, and so it's a lot cheaper here," he added. "And buying a home is a lot more manageable, but having to go through the whole process was tricky.”
He said things like knowing and finding a good realtor or what kind of home is a good fit made everything difficult.
“Being a first-time home buyer and not being from here, it was pretty difficult," said Martinez. "And so, Habitat just made everything very easy for me.”
Asked if the home was a weight off his shoulders, the 27-year-old said, "My parents immigrated here from Mexico and ... to graduate from high school, graduate from college, to buy a home, it's— it's a really big deal because it's something that I can pass on to my kids if I have kids or to my siblings.”
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