Habitat dedicates ninth home

The newest addition to the homes provided by the Nevada, Mo. Area Habitat for Humanity, is located at 411 N. Adams on a lot donated by Chuck and Ginny Nash.

By Ralph Pokorny

Nevada Daily Mail

Outside it was a chilly, Sunday afternoon with a brisk wind blowing, but the recently finished house at 411 N. Adams was filled with warmth.

It had taken more than a year, thousands of hours of labor by volunteer carpenters, roofers, cabinet installers, carpet layers, plumbers, electricians and other workers, as well as about 400 hours of work by the new resident to complete the house; And that does not include the baked potato luncheons held monthly to raise money and the donations of materials and money that were required to make this house possible.

A chilly afternoon was not going to stop the Nevada, Mo., Area Habitat for Humanity from dedicating the new house.

"This was not an easy task; not a fast task," Darryl Wright, Habitat for Humanity chapter president, told the dozens of people who filled the house before he presented Heather Atchison and her four young children the keys to their new home.

"We want to thank all the volunteers and contributors who made this possible -- especially Chuck and Ginny Nash who share the Habitat vision and donated the building lot," he said.

"We chose this family and built the house specifically for them," Wright said.

"This was all quite intentional," he said.

"Our intention is to provide simple, decent housing," he said.

Habitat's motto is to eliminate substandard housing from the face of the earth, Wright said.

"Unfortunately, we can only do this one house at a time," he said.

We are already packed and moving in tonight, Heather Atchison told the crowd.

"I felt bad that we weren't able to finish the house before Christmas," Alan Wade, on of more than 100 individuals, businesses, churches and organizations that were listed in the program for contributing to the completion of this house.

Wade said that he provided what help he could and wished he could have done more.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, ecumenical, Christian housing ministry that works in partnership with people in need to build and renovate decent, affordable housing.

The houses are sold to the new homeowner, who is required to put in at least 200 hours of sweat equity, at cost and with no interest. The monthly mortgage payments are used to finance future homes.

People who are interested in learning how to become a Habitat homeowner can contact Darryl Wright, (417) 667-1179.