homeownership
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Latest News
Habitat Elects New Board Members & Officers
Habitat for Humanity of Douglas County President Steve Hellermann reports the election of two new board members: Irene Vagle and Marie Anderson. The board also elected officers: Steve Hellermann, President; Jan Finazzo, Vice President; Chris Worley, Treasurer; Janna Lindoo, Secretary; and John Beem, Past President. Other board members include: Joyce Hansen, John Loken, Terry Quist, Gordon Vander Helm and Pete Wood. Vern Anderson, Co-Founder and CEO of Douglas Machine, Inc. installed the new directors and officers at their organizational meeting held on July 20, 2010.
Homeowner Story: A Fresh Start
Having the opportunity to move from a mobile home into their own home gave the Marti family of Alexandria a fresh new start.
Darren, Sadie and their three boys – Parker, 10, Emmett, 6, and Raleigh, 4 – moved into their new home last October.
A home that was partly built by their hands, along with volunteers from the local Habitat for Humanity organization.
Sadie Marti explained that the family had exhausted all of its resources to get the financial backing they needed to purchase their own home.
Every option left them empty handed, as they were turned down time and again when applying for a home loan.
Both Sadie and Darren are self-employed – he owns his own handyman business and she does telesales – which may have hindered the process, she said.
Sadie knew of the Habitat for Humanity program and contacted someone to find out more and to see if she and Darren qualified.
They did.
“One misconception people have about Habitat is that they think it’s a free house,” said Sadie. “It’s not. It’s an affordable home for our family.”
Both Sadie and Darren each completed 200 hours of “sweat equity” helping to build their home – a basic tenet of the Habitat program.
For Sadie, some of her hours were spent in the local Habitat for Humanity office helping out staff members, something she said she misses on a regular basis.
“It was a lot of work, but definitely well worth it,” said Sadie. “It was amazing to watch your own home being built before your eyes and to know you were a part of it.”
Sadie said both she and Darren feel “very lucky” and “very fortunate” to have qualified for the Habitat program and said she recommends it all the time to everyone.
The opportunity her family was given changed their lives, Sadie said, adding that there’s not enough ways to say thank you to the Habitat for Humanity organization.
“We were stuck in a rut and now we have a home for our children; we have a family neighborhood for them to play and grow up in,” she said. “The kids love watching the wildlife in our backyard and our neighborhood.”
Both Sadie and Darren were born and raised in Alexandria and they are glad they can raise their children here, too.
After their house was built, Darren said, “Habitat for Humanity has given us such a sense of accomplishment in building our own home. We are moving forward now, no longer falling behind. We enjoyed meeting so many new people in the office, on site and look forward to volunteering with you again next year…
“All things worthwhile are worth waiting for. We thank God for the opportunity to better our lives. We appreciate all the hard work from the Habitat volunteers.”