Slow participation in the last Covington County Habitat for Humanity search for partner families means residents will have one more opportunity to apply for a new home.

Dale Pancake, the chapter’s executive director, said a family selection meeting will be held Saturday at the Andalusia Public Library’s Dixon Room from 10 a.m. until noon.

“We didn’t have as much response as we would have liked,” Pancake said of the two meeting in February. “A good number of people said they just missed the dates and couldn’t come, so we decided to add one more day.”

HFH is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing organization dedicated to building simple, decent, affordable housing in partnership with people in need. To date, the local chapter has constructed three homes – one in Opp, Andalusia and Florala.

Work is ongoing at the county’s fourth Habitat home, located in Andalusia.

Currently, there is one Habitat family “on deck” to receive the next Habitat house.

“Things have progressed so nicely at the build, but we’re ready to start looking ahead to the next one,” Pancake said. “To do that, we need at least three partner families.”

Pancake said to qualify, families must meet certain guidelines, including income, one’s actual housing need based on the suitability of one’s current home; the willingness to partner with Habitat and one’s ability to repay the mortgage loan.

Families must work at least 100 “sweat equity hours” at a Habitat site, and since there is only one other upcoming build in the works, new families are needed, he said.

“This meeting on Saturday will consist of a short presentation, about 15 minutes or so about Habitat, and then, families will meet with a representative who will go step-by-step through the application process,” he said. “All-in-all, it’s about a 30 minute process to apply.”

Applications will not be handed out and must be filled out on site, he said.

Applicants must bring two months of pay stubs, all monthly bills such as power, cell phone, etc., and two months of bank statements.

“This is really the only opportunity for people to fill out and turn in an application, so anyone who is interested in the program to come out,” he said.