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| By Andrew M. Seder | 12/17/2003 |
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Posted on 12/17/2003 8:30:00 AM PST by Born Conservative
| A family's second chance |
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| Charles and Barbara Smith and 14 of their 18 children are moving back into their North Scranton home today, just in time for the holidays. The Smith family was forced to leave the house after the city condemned it July 29 -- the first known Habitat for Humanity home in the country to be condemned. On Tuesday, a team of city inspectors went through the house at 2517 N. Main Ave. and removed the "unfit for human habitation" label. Mr. Smith says he regrets what happened because of "my neglect and lax supervision" and promises Habitat for Humanity things will be different this time. Mr. Smith said he looks forward to spending Christmas back in his house. He's sorry Habitat was dragged through the mud. "This was a hard lesson learned, but I've corrected the problem and it won't happen again," Mr. Smith said. After the condemnation, Habitat for Humanity of Lackawanna County -- following the example of other area Habitat organization -- hired a family support counselor to assist the Smiths and other families. Robin Decker immediately went to work interviewing the Smiths and educating them on budgeting, simple home maintenance and parenting skills. "When I first met them, the kids would throw candy wrappers on the floor. That does not happen anymore. They know about discipline and responsibilities now," Ms. Decker said. "Things are different." "They know that if this happens again we'll be out on the street," Mr. Smith said. The Smiths and their children moved into the house three years ago. They have been staying with the couple's third oldest son since being evicted. The home was condemned, according to city officials, because it had no heat, hot water or electricity. Inspectors also noted holes in walls, floors and ceilings; electrical circuitry problems, the lack of smoke detectors and other deficiencies. Laura Gillette, the city's deputy director for permits, inspections and licensing, said it was mostly "unsanitary conditions that needed to be cleaned." The Smith family, friends and volunteers from Habitat for Humanity worked to bring the house back into compliance. "Habitat didn't spend one dime," said Robert "Ozzie" Quinn, executive director for the Lackawanna chapter of Habitat. He said donations and volunteers made the home livable again. Mr. Smith said having 14 kids ages 3 to 14 under one roof would be a problem for anyone. But he acknowledged his lack of discipline made matters worse. "If you have 14 kids at home and no place for them to play, I don't care who you are, you're going to have damage in your house," Mr. Smith said. Mr. Smith said he will remain a stay-at-home father while his wife works as a housekeeping supervisor for a hotel in Dickson City. It's her paycheck that pays the bills, including the $115-a-month mortgage payment to Habitat. Mr. Quinn said he's weary of people saying Habitat shouldn't have helped such a large family and shouldn't have stuck by them through the past four months. "This is a crisis situation. We can't just turn our backs on them," Mr. Quinn said. Mr. Smith said that by spending more than $4,000 of his own money to fix the house, his children's best holiday present will probably be getting to sleep in their own beds again. "It's going to be a crappy Christmas for the kids, but we'll make the best of it," Mr. Smith said. But Mr. Smith is thankful others have been so charitable. Between volunteers, including those from local colleges, and donations from others, the Smiths said the repair work and materials and new appliances could have cost more than $10,000. "I came here one day in October to do some work and there was a brand-new refrigerator and oven on the porch. I have no idea where they came from, but I thank whoever it was," Mr. Smith said. |
Unbelievable!
My view of Habitat for Humanity was colored for years because Jimmy Carter was so involved with the group. But this news of only one condemned house impresses me very much, as the organization has built tens of thousands of homes over the years.
To put this on context, one need only note that during the 1990s the City of New York allowed more than 300,000 homes to rot under its control. Instead of selling them, it boarded them up (so unrepaired leaks destroyed the properties), and many if not most became the denizens of crack addicts and drug dealers.
I'll take Habit for Humanity housing management shortcomings over state stewardship any day of the week.
Another one!
WHAT?! who says a house needs these things OR it get's condemned-i've lived without these conveniences/utilities from 'time to time'-OUTRAGEOUS....
We don't know all of the details of this family's history and situation. Given our lack of information, we should give the family -- and the Habitat evaluators that assessed their situation -- the benefit of the doubt rather than assume the existence of the large family itself is justification for blanket condemnation of the parents.
I think we can say that the entity that makes it most difficult for fathers to provide fully for their children is the state. Add up all taxes -- federal and state income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, gas taxes, surcharges, fees, etc. -- and the average family forks over more than 50% of its income to the government.
Providing for a family under our current tax burden is a challenge no matter how many, or few, children one has.
It certainly is -- especially when the main reason fathers can't provide financially for their children is the plunder of the state. Adjusted for inflation, the current per child tax exemption is thousands of dollars below its original value. Fixing this alone would solve the problem for most families in America.
Wow, I didn't know you could totally trash a house by dropping candy wrappers on the floor!
She lived to be about 3 weeks shy of turning 90.
I have 25 cousins that are homeschooled (twelve in one family alone) using family funds exclusively (three other cousins are educated at private schools). Their parents are forced to pay for the state "public school" monopoly even though they receive no benefits from it. The same is true of childless couples and retirees that are forced to pay property taxes that are coerced "for the children".
It's not fair to criticize or punish one family for the injustices of the whole system. Government school is socialist by design: It takes money from some to pay for the state indoctrination of others. This is unavoidable, as no family can be precisely average -- having 2.54 kids and paying exactly average taxes -- in order to pay their "fair share" of education taxes.
Every family -- yours included -- is paying either more or less than its share of taxes for education. Injustice is unavoidable in this system. If you like me and Thomas Jefferson consider this arrangement to be evil, then work to get the state out of education completely. Start with your own family. And, in the meantime, stop attacking other families for being caught up in a system they didn't create and largely don't want.
Because, when government holds the pursestrings, there often are (or will eventually be) some other strings attached. Forced sterilization of welfare recipients -- even certain Child Tax Credit recipients -- is easily within the realm of possibilities.
Good point. Moderns like to scorn the feudal system and look down on the "exploitation" of serfs during the Middle Ages, but they received better protection from bandits and invaders for their 30% in taxes than we do for 50+% today.
And both 50% and 30% are much more than the 10% that the prophet Samuel warned the Hebrews they would have to pay if they got the king "like the other nations" that they clamored for. (1 Samuel 8:10-18).
I ask all who are content with the present why the taxes of today's King George and his nobles on the Hill are more tolerable than the much lower levies of the King George of 1776?
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