WASHINGTON -- Last week, one of the nation's largest builders completed 157 houses, including it's 100,000th.

That's no small milestone. But what's even more remarkable is that this particular builder doesn't use any professional plumbers, carpenters or other subcontractors to speak of.

The builder is Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness around the world. Through volunteer labor and donations, Habitat builds and remodels simple, decent houses that are sold -- not given away, but sold -- at no profit to families in need of decent shelter.

Habitat buyers do receive affordable, no-interest loans. But they also have to make a downpayment, just like any other home buyer, and they still have to make monthly mortgage payments, too.

Buyers also must participate in the program by investing hundreds of hours of their own time and skills -- sweat equity -- into their houses and those of other participants. If they can't wield a hammer, then Habitat will find something they can do, like working with youngsters or cooking for workers. Practically anything goes, as long as it's productive.

Last week's construction blitz was part of the 16th Jimmy Carter Work Project, an annual end-of-summer event in which the former president and his bride join hundreds of volunteers to build houses and raise awareness of the critical need for affordable housing.

There are those who believe Carter's presidency was a failure. Maybe so. But since leaving office, he has gained a reputation as a tireless champion of social justice. Indeed, since he first worked at a Habitat site in Americus, Ga., in 1984, he's been a mainstay volunteer for the organization.

"We have become small players in an exciting global effort to alleviate the curse of homelessness," Carter said recently. "With our many new friends, we have worked to raise funds, to publicize the good work of Habitat, to recruit other volunteers and to even build a few houses."

Because of a scheduling conflict, I was unable to take part in last week's build, which took place simultaneously in three locations -- New York City, where the 100,000th Habitat house was built, Jacksonville, Fla., and Sumter County, Ga., where the former president grew up and now lives.

But I was lucky enough to have participated in the 1997 blitz in Pikeville, a rural eastern Kentucky town in the Appalachian Mountains. And let me tell you -- although I was more exhausted than I have ever been in my life, I had never felt more satisfied, either. Or more proud. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything else I can think of, including hitting a World Series- winning home run or taking home a Pulitzer.

I was invited by one of Habitat's many corporate sponsors, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. of San Francisco. The thinking was that I would observe the effort, do some interviews and write a column. But I had other ideas. I worked right along with every other volunteer. I hammered, I sawed, I nailed, I sawed, I sweated, I hurt. But it wasn't until the breaks that I became a reporter.

I learned a lot about building houses that week, and I learned a lot about giving something back, too. But the what I remember most are two things:

One was the look of gratitude on Linda Smith's face when I put my arm around her and told her I pounded in a few extra nails on her behalf. Smith was a 52-year-old divorced mother of four who was living in a small, run-down mobile home at the time.

She wanted a new place so her six grandchildren could have more room when they came to visit. But on her deli-manager's salary from the local grocery store, she couldn't afford one on her own. So there she was, hammerin' and sawin' and luggin' just like the rest of us.

Smith was required to put in 300 hours of her own sweat before she would be allowed to move in. She'd spent part of that time working with residents at a local nursing home and watching videos on home improvement, and now she was helping build her own walls.

The other thing that stands out most was Jimmy Carter's quiet little press conference prior to the build. He would be glad to answer any questions now, he said. But once construction started, he added, he didn't want to be bothered, not by reporters or by other volunteers seeking autographs. He was there to work, not to obtain publicity, and he didn't want to be interrupted.

Published: September 21, 2000

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When Lew Sichelman first started writing about housing in 1969, he was the youngest real estate writer in the country. Now, 37 years later, he's one of the oldest -- and most decorated. He has been rated the top housing columnist in the country by the National Association of Realtors as well as by his peers in the National Association of Real Estate Editors. Indeed, NAREE has recognized his work on numerous occasions. One year - due to his advancing age, he can't recall which one - he earned top honors in the annual NAREE Journalism Contest in three out of the four major writing categories. It was the first time one writer has won so many NAREE awards in a single year. Known for his ability to make even the most difficult topics understandable, Sichelman also has been honored by the National Association of Home Builders and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He began providing in-depth coverage of and consumer-oriented information about housing and housing finance at the Washington Daily News, where he was real estate editor. He held that same position for nine more years at the Washington Star, which purchased the News in 1972. The Star, a so-called "writer's newspaper" which also had the misfortune of being an evening paper, was put out of its misery in 1981, and Sichelman, who had begun self-syndicating his column in 1978, decided to become a full-time columnist. Today, his column, "The Housing Scene," is distributed by United Media to newspapers throughout the country. He also is on the staff of National Mortgage News, an independent newspaper which is considered the bible of the mortgage business. And he writes for numerous other publications, including MarketWatch.com, where he answers readers questions once a week, Sports Illustrated (don't ask), RealtyTimes.com, BigBuilder and others. Sichelman is married, the father of five and grandfather of eleven.