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For Kathryn Dunagan, the end of the month can't come soon enough.

It's not a Memorial Day celebration that Dunagan's looking forward to, but rather the day she's able to move into her brand new home.

Dunagan will be moving into one of 10 homes, located off of Kalifornsky Beach Road across from Cannery Road in Kenai, built through RurAL CAP's mutual self-help housing program, which allows moderate-income borrowers to build each others' homes.

"It's a group project. Everybody helps everybody," said Donna Shassetz, self-help housing coordinator for RurAL CAP.

Shassetz will be hosting an open house on Saturday to give the public and potential self-help housing applicants a first-hand view of the project. The open house will be held from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. To find the development, head south on K-Beach toward Kasilof, turn left on Westway Road and follow signs for Polaris Way.

"It's a good way for them to come out and look at (the houses) and see what the project is all about," Shassetz said.

To qualify for the self-help program, applicants may not earn more than 80 percent of the country median income as a household. A household's income must also be sufficient to handle house payments as well as any monthly debt. According to RurAL CAP, the housing payment should not exceed 29 percent of gross monthly income and total debt should not exceed 41 percent. A minimum $1,200 gross monthly income is recommended.

The program is available for anyone who qualifies, regardless of marital status, race, ethnicity or religion. Each house is a five-star energy rated house.

House payments for self-helpers vary. The interest rate is based on income and family size. Rates can increase or decrease annually depending on changes in income. Interest rates can vary from 1 percent to the current market rate.

Families put in a majority of the work building their own homes, Shassetz said. Called "sweat equity hours," each household commits 30 hours per week for construction.

"When they walk into these houses, they already have equity in them from building," she said.

Families do not make a down payment or make payments during the building process.

"It sounds too good to be true, but it's not, it's happening," Shassetz said. "Great things are out there for housing."

RurAL CAP has a construction supervisor, Loren Bass, who teaches the families what they need to know to build their homes.

"It teaches you skills needed to go forth in life," Shassetz said. She said working on their own home takes the families involved out of the "I can't do that box."

Before the project, almost no one knew how to build a house, afterward, they have the skills necessary for proper upkeep.

"I learned enough to not be afraid to do maintenance on my house," Dunagan said.

"It adds an amazing amount of ego boost and self-esteem," Shassetz said. "It's helping people to help themselves."

Families also work together, helping build each others' homes, Shassetz said. Every family closes their loans together and moves in on the same day. No one can move in until construction on every house is completed.

"You get to learn your neighbors. The type of neighborhood you're building is a very close one," Shassetz said.

"We've all become good friends," said Chelsie Medina, who will also be moving into a new home in the K-Beach RurAL CAP development. "I think we'll have a good little neighborhood out there."

"We built a whole neighborhood," Dunagan said. "I think it was an excellent program."

This project is the second self-help housing project on the central peninsula. The first was an eight-house project in Sterling and was completed last May.

Shassetz said eight more houses will be built near the 10-house project. The development process of the project is expected to begin in July.

RurAL CAP received $578,000 in the form of a neighborhood stabilization grant that will be used for the development of the next project, she said.

Future applicants are always being sought, Shassetz said. She can be reached at 907-865-7369 or by e-mail at dshassetz@ruralcap.com for any questions.

Shassetz said the new homeowners should move in by the end of this month.

"It's a good program to get into your first home," Medina said.

"It's been a long year and a lot of hard work," Dunagan said, "but it was worth it."

Mike Nesper can be reached at mike.nesper@peninsulaclarion.com.