Building with love (Friday, May 16, 2008)

Willie Perkins hammers in nails while volunteering at the fourth Habitat for Humanity home being built in Graham. Below, Kyle Cornell looks over the roof. Oak Street Baptist Church had 25 people volunteer to work on the home. (Photos by David Rupkalvis)

By David Rupkalvis
[ email ]

Week after week, Stephanie Ruiz is watching her dream of having her own home come true.

And thanks to hundreds of volunteers, almost all she doesn’t know, Ruiz is already making plans for the day she can move into the home.
Last weekend, Ruiz joined volunteers from Oak Street Baptist Church at the site of her Habitat for Humanity home. She joined in as the volunteers put the roof joints in place on the three-bedroom home Ruiz will move into this year with her children, Michael and Brenda Trevino.
“I’m excited, and they are really looking forward to their own rooms,” Ruiz said. “My kids and I are staying in one room, so it’s pretty hard. We’ve been living here three years.”
Ruiz moved to Graham from Breckenridge three years ago and has been living with her mom. She has followed Habitat for Humanity and was interested in applying for a home, but there was one problem.

“The first two years, I didn’t know how to do it,” Ruiz said. “I didn’t know how to get an application.”
Ruiz said several co-workers at GMI urged her to apply with Habitat for Humanity, but it was a new co-worker who offered the most help.
“This woman who just started working really pushed me,” Ruiz said. “She even took me to the meeting. I’m so glad she did because look where we are now.”
After that first meeting, Ruiz and her kids had to go through a series of hurdles to meet the Habitat qualifications, but in the end, the work was worth it when the family was chosen to receive the fourth Habitat home built in Graham.
“I just wanted to scream,” Ruiz said about finding out. “I wanted to jump up and down and scream and thank God.”
For several months, Ruiz volunteered with Habitat and other non-profit agencies to begin acquiring sweat equity. By Habitat rules, people chosen to receive homes must work 300 hours as a down payment on the home. Homeowners are also required to pay off a mortgage equal to what the home cost.
Despite being hard at work, the reality of the Habitat experience did not really hit Ruiz until two weeks ago when the first group of volunteers came out to help build the home. As she worked with the second group Saturday, Ruiz said she was still stunned by the outpouring of love from the community.
“It’s hard to explain,” she said. “It was just heartwarming. I’ve never seen a community where so many people want to help.”
David Sneed led the volunteer effort for Oak Street, getting together 25 people to help build the home.
“I love it,” Sneed said. “I like being able to help someone.”
Sneed worked on his second Habitat Home and said he was planning to volunteer other days as well. Sneed grew up in a construction family and has worked on dozens of homes in his life. But there is something different about helping out with Habitat.
“Out here, they’re all volunteers,” he said. “It’s a different type of experience. It’s just great to do the Lord’s work, helping people out.”