Throw support behind Habitat

If you’ve been around Custer long enough, you know there are some immutable truths when it comes to this fine city. Someone will tell you the Farmer’s Almanac has predicted we are going to have a horrible winter, followed by one of the mildest winters ever. Locals will decry the gathering of the motorcycles during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. We’ll wake up in one of the most beauitful areas on earth. Groups will meet, studies will be done and the lack of workforce/affordable housing will have a fist shaken at it. Attempts will be made to solve it, but those attempts will be bogged down by cost, bureacracy, or both.
Many, many fine people in this town have worked toward or continue to work toward providing more affordable housing in this city. It’s a slog. They are doing their best. Everyone knows we need it, but it remains elusive. We admire those who roll up their sleeves and charge into the battle to obtain that housing.
We must continue to do anything we can to support those who through the kindness of their heart continue to look for ways to provide what is now often being referred to as workforce housing as opposed to “affordable” housing, because, let’s face it, which housing is affordable varies wildly depending on who you are and your employment/money situation. For some $400,000 is affordable. For others, that’s a nonstarter.
Another group has formed to work to address this issue, and as you can read on the front page of this issue, that group is plunging headlong into bringing three more Habitat For Humanity homes in Custer. The homes will be constructed on a lot in the Homestead Subdivision, and the land has already been secured. This is a project that is going to happen, and we should all be grateful and willing to lend a hand however needed. 
Black Hills Area Habitat for Humanity seeks to provide high quality, affordable housing that is easy to maintain and energy efficient. Buyers from all walks of life are welcome to apply to purchase Habitat homes and must qualify with the eligibility requirements. The program helps provide homes for many people for who otherwise homeownership would be a pipe dream.
This is the kind of housing the City of Custer needs. This is the kind of housing that provides our teachers, law enforcement officers, city workers, county workers and other middle class folks a place to live.
There hasn’t been a Habitat for Humanity home constructed in Custer for nearly two decades, and that’s far too long. The city once had an active Habitat for Humanity committee, and a few homes were built over the years. That stalled out over time, however, and has remained mostly dormant until this new steering committee take the lead in bringing it back. Now, there are homes within our reach.
Thanks again to the steering committee for its work on this project, and we at the Custer County Chronicle pledge to help however we can. We hope the rest of the community will follow suit. Let’s make the dream of home ownership a reality.