It was a moving day two years in the making for a KELOLAND family and it’s all thanks to the hard work of volunteers at Habitat for Humanity.
12-year-old Beneyem Hassen is excited that his family finally has a home of its own.
“It’s really nice and I’m kind of happy to have my own room plus it’s in the basement so it’ going to be better,” Hassen said.
Habitat for Humanity handed over the keys to a newly finished house that took more than 200 volunteers to complete.
“It just warms our heart to know that we are helping to provide stable homes for people in our community,” Habitat Volunteer Deb Harris said.
Anyone can apply for the housing program, but it takes a lot of hard-work before, during, and after the home is complete.
“They do about 300 hours of sweat equity. Some of that is required education classes they have to do that I organize. Then the rest is all sweat equity, doing the construction. They’re actually building their home, that is part of their education process, ” Family Services Coordinator Lisa Ross said.
Habitat hosts an Art ReStorAtion auction. The funds go to projects like these. The most recent event raised more than $11,000 for this home.
“The funds from this year will again be dedicated to a specific build for next year, so hopefully a year from now we’re standing in front of another home saying we did it again,” Harris said.
Harris says she loves working with the different Habitat families and wants everyone to know one thing about the program.
“Habitat provides a hand-up and not a hand out to our families,” Harris said.
It’s something that helped this family going forward.
“I’m feeling good. It’s going to be a nice life until I move out,” Hassen said.
You can learn more about the Home Ownership Program on their website.
