22 Agriculture Sponsors Join Together to Build Habitat For Humanity Home at Indiana State Fair

For the first time ever Habitat For Humanity of Greater Indianapolis will construct an entire five-bedroom house at the Indiana State Fair.

After the Fair ends, Tamika Allen and her five children will move into the home when it is moved to its permanent site at 2062 Bellefontaine St., Indianapolis, in September.

“We have discussed this idea with the Indiana State Fair for several years, but we have never had the right people, partners, resources and volunteers all in one place at one time until now,” said Dean Illingworth, executive director of Habitat For Humanity of Greater Indianapolis.

“It is particularly fitting for a home built during the Indiana State Fair that all 22 sponsors are related to the agriculture industry,” said Cynthia Hoye, executive director of the Indiana State Fair.

Constructing a house during the 17 days of the Fair is less than half the normal six-week timeframe it takes to build a Habitat house. The project will require approximately 350 volunteers to meet the demanding construction schedule, and many of those volunteers will come from the 22 sponsoring companies.

Dow AgroSciences and Kroger are the primary financial sponsors of the Indiana State Fair Habitat home. Both companies have sponsored many local Habitat For Humanity homes in the past.

Additional financial sponsors include Beck’s Hybrids and Cargill. The remaining financial and in-kind sponsors are Reynolds Farm Equipment, the Indiana State Fair, King Park Area Development Corporation, CountryMark, Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen’s Association, the Indiana Soybean Alliance, the Indiana Corn Marketing Council and the Marion County Farm Bureau. In-kind services are being provided by: Achieva, Inc., Baxter Communications and Country 97.1 HANK-FM, Hamilton Exhibits, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture, Indiana Pork, MainGate, Purdue University, The National FFA Organization and Red Line Graphics.

“We're excited to be helping the Allen family realize their dream of homeownership and we're proud to do so in partnership with others from the ag community, said Gordon Slack, vice president, Finance and Public Affairs, Dow AgroSciences. “We know our employees really enjoy volunteering for Habitat as a tangible way to make a difference in our community.”

John Elliott, Public Affairs manager for Kroger’s central division, said, “Kroger has a close relationship with Habitat For Humanity of Greater Indianapolis and has supported every Habitat home in Marion County for several years with donations of food, in addition to sponsoring a home each year. This project has particular significance to us, because the eventual owner of this home is Tamika Allen, a Kroger employee.”

Due to the creative input of the agriculture-related sponsors, the Habitat For Humanity “Ag House” will use many sustainable materials, including wood siding and others derived from agricultural products. The carpet to be installed in the home is made using corn sugar. Thirty-seven percent of the carpet is made up of renewably sourced ingredients that replace petroleum-based products.

“It will be very entertaining for an anticipated 900,000 Fair-goers to see additional uses for agricultural products and to watch the construction of a five-bedroom home progress from day to day throughout the Fair,” said Illingworth.

The construction schedule calls for the Habitat for Humanity Ag Home to be completed August 19. Fair-goers will be able to tour the finished home during the final three days of the Fair.

Habitat For Humanity of Greater Indianapolis is committed to eliminating poverty housing and making home ownership available to very low-income families, most of whom have children and live in unsafe, overcrowded or substandard conditions. Each qualified low-income family must meet Habitat’s income and credit history criteria, as well as agree to invest 450 hours in budget education classes and assist with the building of their own home. Each family must also make monthly mortgage payments with a no-interest loan. Through cooperative partnerships with volunteers, churches, corporations, foundations and builders, Habitat is able to make the dream of homeownership a reality. For more information about this build or about Habitat, visit www.indyhabitat.org, or call (317) 921-2121, ext. 121.