ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — The President says his proposed budget will cut the federal deficit by $1.1 trillion over the next 10 years. Some of those cuts include programs in place to help local families.

If passed, the Self-Help Homeowner Opportunity Program or SHOP would be terminated. That’s $21-million to help local organizations. One of them is Habitat for Humanity. It could lose about $75 thousand a year.

Denise Herron is living the good life. The nursing home cook and mother of four is finally a homeowner.

“With the economy, a lot of people don’t want to take the chance on giving people loans,” says Herron, “and I know with my income I wouldn’t be able to afford a reasonable house with 4 bedrooms.”

This is all thanks to Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County. But under the President’s proposed budget cuts, the organization could lose big money — 75 to 85-thousand dollars a year. The money represents four percent of Habitat for Humanity’s yearly budget.

“If we don’t find additional funding sources we have to scale back the number of houses we build. That is not an option. We will find some way to make it up,” says Habitat for Humanity of St. Joe County Executive Director Jim Williams.

The organization used $10,000 to $12,000 in SHOP funds on Herron’s house. The money was used to prepare the build site and will soon pay for new sidewalks. But without the SHOP funds money for those projects would disappear.

Williams says now the plan is to apply for other grants and use money from the ReStore shop to fill in the gaps. That is a relief for future Habitat homeowners like Herron.

“It has changed my life tremendously,” says Herron, “I know my family has stable home to live in and we don’t have to move.”

Of course there are some major challenges ahead for the organization. But, Williams says they are used to changing funding sources and because of that are not dependent on any one source.

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