BEND, OR -- Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity recently completed a new home in Northeast Bend. CEO Carly Colgan tells KBND News the home’s price is different than those traditionally built by the nonprofit, “This was one of those opportunities for us where we had funding that allowed us to go up into the workforce housing income level.”

By using the city of Bend’s Affordable Housing Fund, the home will go to a family earning 100 percent of the Area Median Income, $95,200 annually for a family of four, compared to the 80 percent ($76,150) needed to qualify for affordable housing.

Colgan says the new owner will also benefit from significant energy savings, “We know that what we're able to do is provide an affordable mortgage, but we're trying to go beyond that and look at how we can ensure low-cost utilities for our homeowners as well. This home is a net zero home. They’re airtight and then we are putting solar on them and in most cases are able to mitigate a lot of the energy consumption. The monthly energy costs are $12 a month which is just the cost of hooking up to the grid.”

Another middle-income home is planned. “The next one will be in Bend as well. Workforce housing… We’ll do applications for that this winter and hope to have it online by next winter,” Colgan says it marks a milestone also, “Since 2021 we've been doing the Humanity and Action capital campaign and the goal there was by 2024 to build 40 homes and this is our 40th home.” They’re busy building and planning more houses. “We have 19 other homes in progress right now. So, we've gone above and beyond and delivered on that 40 home promise,” Colgan says.