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A Place to Call Home
For the Dunfee family, Tuesday was a very special day. They found out they had been chosen by Putnam County Habitat for Humanity as the next family to receive a home in the Roachdale neighborhood.
The Dunfee's house is the ninth and last one being built on four acres of land that was donated to Habitat.
"This house will have five bedrooms and two bathrooms and will cost about $45,000 to build," said Board Member Barb Hill.
April Dunfee is the mother of six children aged two to 10.
Ten year-old Heaven is delighted to have a room of her own.
"I haven't had my own room since I was an only child," she smiled.
The only boy in the family, Harley, will also have his own room. The kids were pleased to pick out their rooms on the blue prints at the celebration for the family at the Habitat office. Beside Heaven and Harley, there are Honey, Hope, Harmony and Haylee.
Habitat President Ron Price told the Banner Graphic he was very pleased with the choice of the Dunfee family.
"April is responsible, disciplined and understands the difference between needs and wants. This is a terrific family," he said.
The family will be in the home before school starts next fall. It takes about three months to get the home built.
Dunfee is a workshop facilitator for the Division of Family Resources. That is where she first heard about Habitat.
Tammy Folck was making a presentation for one of Dunfee's classes. After the class, Dunfee inquired about applying for a Habitat home.
"It was a roller coaster ride from the beginning, but it's fabulous. I've never been so scared and happy," said Dunfee.
Folck, who lives in another Habitat house in the Roachdale neighborhood, is pleased to welcome the Dunfees to the area.
"Do you know what an asset you will be to the neighborhood?" she asked Dunfee.
"Do you know what a blessing that neighborhood will be to me?" replied Dunfee.
Since the first Habitat for Humanity home was built in Putnam County in 1989 on Avenue E in Greencastle, 17 more have been constructed by the non-profit group.
Habitat for Humanity was born in September 1976 when a group of supporters got together. The personal involvement of Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter brought the organization national visibility and sparked interest in Habitat's work across the nation.
The group experienced a dramatic increase in the number of new affiliates around the country and that included Putnam County. Eventually, DePauw University students added an affiliate as well. The two groups came together to work on the first house in 1989.
Through the work of Habitat, thousands of low-income families have found new hope in the form of affordable housing. Churches, community groups and others have joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem -- decent housing for all.
Today, Habitat has built more than 300,000 houses, sheltering more than 1.5 million people in more than 3,000 communities worldwide.
Habitat is looking for volunteers to help with the project and for donations of needed supplies. They are in particular need of a chipper to take out brush and limbs at the new building site.
Habitat will also be the recipient of funds raised at the garage sale at Tony Fruend's home at 49 Mill Springs in Heritage Lake. The sale begins Thursday and runs through Saturday.
Anyone who would like to volunteer or make a donation can contact Habitat at 653-5360 or by e-mail at barbhill@pchhin.org.
For information about Habitat for Humanity or to volunteer or make a donation, call 653-5360.