Refugee family moves into Habitat House

By Malniquia Evans and Janiel Thomas
BengalNews Reporters

A newly renovated two-story house on Sherwood Street became the home of a Somalian family on April 7.

The Malande family, who were refugees from Kenya before coming to the United States, moved into the five bedroom, one bath house, with the help of Habitat for Humanity. This organization focuses on helping low income and refugee families own homes that they might not otherwise be able to afford. The Malande family consists of seven members, and was able to move into this renovated home after a long and tenuous process.

Through the organization’s application process and dedicated volunteer services, families like the Malande family are able to own homes with interest-free mortgages for up to 35 years.

“We have an application process that we market to new families,” Kevin Scherf, executive director of Habitat for Humanity said. “Our families who wish to be in our program first have to be employed and they have to meet certain income requirements.”

The family was welcomed into their new home by Habitat for Humanity during a dedication ceremony. The occasion marked the 240^th house sold to Habitat for Humanity partner families.

The ceremony included the blessing of the house and the presentations of gifts to the family from various organizations throughout Buffalo, such as Niagara Frontier Reading Council, WNY Embroiders Guild and WNY Garden Clubs. The family was also presented with a Bible, which was donated by the Bible Society of WNY.

Habitat for Humanity depended on the service of volunteers who aided in the rehabilitation of the family’s home.  Like the many other volunteers and families who have previously owned homes through Habitat, the Malande family had to dedicate their time to volunteering.

“It was a vacant house so we stripped it down onto the basic frame and rebuilt it from there,” Sarah Mast, an assistant site supervisor for Habitat of Humanity through AmeriCorps said. “After the application process, the family has to put in 150 hours on any Habitat house and at that point they get to pick their own house.”

This particular house was in the works for over a year when Mast started as site supervisor in October 2012.

Habitat houses are donated, and the families are allowed to choose the house they want to live in and the neighborhood they feel most comfortable in. The Malande family chose their new home due to a variety of reasons, which included the accessibility of medical services. 

Mohamed Kulow, on his family's new home: 

“We chose this location because my father is old and it is easier for him to go to the doctor because it is close,” Mohamed Kulow, the oldest sibling, said.

In addition to the Malande family’s home, Habitat has rehabbed and built a number of houses on the West Side, which includes an entire block on Ferguson Street. Scherf said Habitat’s goal was to fix up the area so that homeowners have a safe and decent place to live and raise their families.

 “We work on 10 to 15 projects a year,” Scherf said. “About 70 percent of the work we do is rehab and the remaining 30 percent are new builds.”