Construction is progressing on the third Habitat home in DeKalb County and plans are for it to be completed and ready for the partner family to move into by late summer.
Volunteers from the Upper Helton Baptist Church and the Center Hill Brethren-in Christ Church spent the day Saturday with members of Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County working on the home, which is located on Hayes Street in Smithville.
Sharon Evans, Vice President of Habitat for Humanity of DeKalb County says much of the construction work is done on Saturdays and thanks to church groups and other volunteers in the community who have donated their time this spring, the project is coming along nicely. “We are working with Upper Helton Baptist Church and Center Hill Brethren-in-Christ Church today (Saturday) putting up vinyl siding and building a stoop on the back of the home. We were going to stucco the concrete block at the bottom but the rain has prevented us from doing that but we’re working away on this third home.”
“Right now we are working our crews on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. but if we found a group that wanted to work during a week day, we’d love to have a Monday or Tuesday crew to help fix things up. We’ve had some retired folks that have helped us. If anybody is interested in helping they can call and leave us a message at 615-215-8181. We’re always looking for volunteers skilled and unskilled.”
” The home is about 1,100 square feet. It has three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms and is located on Hayes Street between College and Short Mountain Streets so you can drive by and see what we’re doing. We’re real excited to get this family moved into their own home and we’re hoping to get them in by late summer. That’s the goal. We appreciate all the help. The community has been supportive and we hope that continues.”
Groundbreaking for the home was held in January and Kim McCowan and her three grandchildren joined in the brief ceremony.
McCowan said she and the children look forward to one day calling this location their home. “We’re just proud to be here today. We’re thankful and feel really blessed to be picked as the Habitat Partner family. Me and the girls are very grateful. McCowan’s grandchildren, who will be living there with her are eight year old Haley, eleven year old Carrie, and thirteen year old Katelyn”
This is the third Habitat home in DeKalb County. The other two, completed within the last three years for the Denise Perry and Felicia Gibbs families, are located on Adams Street.
To qualify, applicants must: (1) have lived in DeKalb County for at least one year; (2) be willing to partner with Habitat to realize dreams of home ownership; (3) currently occupy inadequate or substandard housing; (4) demonstrate the ability to pay a mortgage; and (5) fall within Habitat’s income guidelines.
All applications are reviewed and considered by Habitat’s Family Selection Committee before a partner family is selected. The partner family then works with Habitat on construction of their home and to develop the skills necessary for successful home ownership. Construction labor is provided by Habitat volunteers, and some materials are donated by Habitat supporters, as well.
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