After countless teams of volunteers, two AmeriCorps members, and one awesome Rhonda (the site supervisor) worked on the home with Annie, Jean, and their family - the home was finished and ready to be bought!
Then came the day we all wait for in the process of home purchases here at Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity - the home dedication.
Home dedications are where the work of the family in preparing to purchase the home, and everyone who touches the house on their days of volunteering comes together in a celebration of the commitment it takes to further the mission to create affordable housing.
Election Day 2018, and while most of the community was thinking about how to inspire change by voting - a group of sponsors, volunteers, staff, homebuyers, and a mayor gathered to celebrate positive change in a different way.
*photo by Dennis Chick*
This change is welcoming a family into an affordable home that can help them grow and thrive, and take their success and passion and multiply that growth within the community they now live.
Habitat homes are a positive influence on a community - not just for their affordability and coaching to buy a home, but also the hard work each family puts in and the community created within the home. Habitat Board Member Nikki Sorum expressed it well. She stated that volunteers build love and support into the home that help blessings flow onto the family and home itself.
This dedication was especially fun because the family's excitement was tangible in the room - from the children going around to choose their rooms, Jean chatting with his new neighbor, and Annie shaking hands with everyone who entered the home to say thank you.
*photo by Dennis Chick*
Annie, Jean, and their children are definitely ready to move in after working so hard toward their dreams - and we're excited for them to use their new space and stability to become a strong influence within their neighborhood.
The family wants to say, "God heard our prayers and brought us to Habitat. We will continue praying for Habitat to keep helping families like us."