Meeting set for do-it-yourself housing program

Renting? Try building your own home with sweat equity.

Region 5 is seeking at least five families in the Brainerd area who would like to be involved in a Self Help Housing Program.

The Self Help Housing program is a program where participants build their own homes with 100-percent financing, no down payment and by building their own homes have equity in the homes.

The program is geared to the low and very low income with annual household incomes ranging from $28,950 for a one-person family to $41,350 a year for a family of four and lower. In certain cases a person's mortgage payments can even be lower than rent or comparable to rent. Participants must have good credit and unable to obtain a conventional loan.

A group of eligible participants work together to build homes under the direction and supervision of a professional construction supervisor. The participants will work as a group and finish all five homes together and complete the homes as a group. The participants will be expected to have a full-time job and put 30 hours a week into the program.

Participants do not need previous construction experience to participate in the program. An informational meeting for individuals who are interested in learning more about the program is set at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Baxter. Free childcare will be available at the meeting. Pre-registration is requested.

For more information, call (218) 894-3233.