Habitat for Humanity turns dream into reality for Pella family

The latest dream-come-true is the new blue house on the west side of Prairie Street, near the intersection of Prairie and Oskaloosa Streets, thanks to Habitat for Humanity of Marion County, and Pella Community High School's Construction Trades Class. Habitat volunteers dedicated their time and talents to building this home on Saturdays, while the high school students worked during the week under the supervision of their classroom teacher, Mark Goodrich.

"It's really been a great experience for our students," said Goodrich. "This is the first year we've partnered with Habitat for Humanity. We had so any kids sign up for the class we had to establish some criteria, and this group was all seniors, since it would be their last chance at such an experience. Really, the best part was not only that they learned and practiced carpentry skills, but they also learned about team work, cooperation, and initiative."

Shawn and Hillary Vande Kieft, along with their 4 young boys, were selected to partner with Habitat to build a new home for their family. When asked how it felt to be selected, Hillary said “It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off our shoulders. The dream Shawn and I have had since the beginning of our marriage was to provide a stable, loving home for the children we would be blessed with. That dream is coming true!”

Shawn and Hillary were in need of affordable housing that would be a healthy and safe environment to watch their children grow. Shawn and Hillary were blessed with a baby boy last month. Their current home lacks the space needed to raise 4 active boys and also has some issues with maintenance and heating. Shawn and Hillary were concerned about the children staying warm at night, especially now with an infant.

“A Habitat home will give us peace of mind. Knowing that everything has been built for us and is functioning properly will allow us to shift our focus away from rent and maintenance worries,” Hillary answered when asked how a new home will change their lives.

The two oldest boys were equally excited about their new house. Elijah and Gideon were both excited to pick the color for their bedroom. Gideon wanted yellow and Elijah wanted purple.

Shawn and Hillary are active members of the Pella community. Shawn is employed at Fareway, while Hillary is active in their church. Both, along with other members of their family, have worked on building their own house. Habitat requires families to complete 300 hours of “sweat equity” by building Habitat houses and/or volunteering in the local community.

Habitat homes are not given away, rather sold to qualifying families for no-profit and financed with a no-interest mortgage loan. Monthly mortgage payments are made directly to Habitat which is used for future house projects.

It won't be long now till the Vande Kiefts move into their home. An open house/dedication celebration will be held on February 14, and the house will be sold to them at the end of the month. The public is invited to that open house, and may tour the home at that time...and find out whether dad allowed the yellow and purple Viking colors in the boys' room!

While most Habitat homes have similar floor plans, each is built to suit the needs of the family selected. Since there will eventually be four Habitat homes on this Prairie/Osklaoosa site, there are plans to make each a bit distinctive, while still building them as cost efficiently as possible.

The homes sell for about $85,000, with a 1% downpayment required, so they are fairly basic. Whirlpool donates stoves and refrigerators to Habitat homes all over the United States, but homeowners must purchase their own microwaves, dishwashers, and washers and dryers if they so choose. This helps keeps the cost of the homes down while still providing decent, affordable housing.

In order to qualify for possible selection, a family must have been living/working in Marion County for a year; need adequate shelter; show a willingness to cooperate; fall within Habitat's financial criteria (earning between 30 and 60% of the area's medium income); and agree to take some homeowner education classes through Habitat for Humanity. These classes include how to be an advocate for Habitat for Humanity (that is, be able to correctly answer questions about their Habitat home), budgeting, the language and meaning of mortgages, home maintenance, and how to be a good neighbor.

In thirteen years of building Habitat homes in Marion County, the group has only had to foreclose on one home.

Applications for Habitat of Humanity homes are still being accepted. Further information may be found at www.hfhmci.org, at 641-828-8844, or hfhmci@iowatelecom.net.

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