Habitat Groundbreaking Especially Significant during the Holidays

Danah Dietz hopes everyone has something as wonderful as she and her three sons have to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Last summer Dietz found out she was chosen to be the next Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana homeowner, and, after a few slight delays, the ground breaking of her future home was celebrated last week.

"I can't think of anything I can be more thankful for, especially this time of year, than a place my boys can call home in the very same hometown where I grew up," she said. "Lowell is a great place to live, and the support from the community has been incredible. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!"

Located at 303 Burnham Street, the Dietz home is just the second Habitat home to be built in south Lake County.

"Our local Habitat coordinator Tom Grant has been keeping an eye out to do something in Lowell for a while now," Lowell Town Council member Phillip Kuiper said. "When the house here burned to the ground a few years ago, the owner donated the land to the town and that gave us a unique opportunity."

Kuiper is hopeful that this Habitat home will be the first of many to be built in Lowell.

According to Keith Bruxvoort, current president and longtime member of the Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana Board of Directors, building in Lowell provides the organization a unique opportunity to receive a grant through a pilot program of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Single Family Housing Loans and Grants.

USDA financing is available to qualifying low and moderate income homebuyers in rural areas like Lowell with less than 10,000 residents.

"We're currently holding 25 mortgages on Habitat homes," Bruxvoort said. "Ultimately all the money comes back to us, but in this case the grant provides a true funding source. Any money we can save with volunteers and donations goes right back into building more homes."

As a result, for this particular Habitat Home, the owner needed to meet the qualifications of both organizations.

Dietz recalls the day last February when a customer at the restaurant where she has worked for over 8 years had a flyer for an upcoming Habitat informational meeting out on the table where she could read it.

"I asked if I could copy down the information, and they told me to go ahead and take the flyer," she said. "So I put it up on the refrigerator when I got home. When the day of the meeting arrived there was a horrible snow storm, but I just knew I needed to get there one way or another. I was curious about how it works and who can qualify."

Dietz drove through a blizzard to attend her first Habitat meeting. There, she listened intently to the presentation and completed a pre-application as instructed.

"They want to find out if you are financially eligible," she said. "It was several weeks before they contacted me by mail with an invitation to formally apply. Then, I met my family coordinator, Penny Triezenberg who told me the next step would be a home visit and that it would be several more weeks before I would hear anything."

Dietz got the call to schedule a home visit right before Easter.

"At this point I just told my dad about Habitat since I had no idea what the odds were," she said. "When they came they were really awesome. They wanted to know more about our history and see where we lived. Since we live in a 2 bedroom duplex, the tour only took a second. They were surprised to learn that all 3 boys share one room with barely enough space for all 3 beds. They keep their toys in the living room. After all, bedrooms are for sleeping, and you make due with what you have."

After that, Dietz couldn't help checking the mail and looking at her phone constantly for a final decision. At this point, it was near the beginning of summer.

"I didn't want to get too excited, I'm just a person," she said. "Then one day after work there was a missed call. I had to leave a message and then wait about a half hour before I could actually speak with someone. At first I couldn't even understand what they were saying - so this is it, we qualify, and we are going to get the home. Then, I was just so excited. I immediately told the boys and took them to the property which is about 3 minutes from where we live now."

Since then Danah Dietz has been driving by the site of her new home every chance she gets, sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. She's also started a scrapbook for her boys, completed a mandatory 13-week class and made a sizeable dent in the required 300 hours of sweat equity for all Habitat homeowners. She also requested a different shift at work so she can be onsite to help out as needed throughout the construction of her new home.

While the list of volunteers in Lowell is growing quickly, more help is always needed and welcome, especially during designated "build" days beginning with December 6-10 when the home is scheduled to be under roof.

Several donors and volunteers turned out to congratulate Dietz and support Habitat for Humanity at the groundbreaking ceremony. Many were acknowledged for their support to date, including: Town of Lowell (lot donation), Fidelity National Title/Dan Rohaley (title work), Mike Lopez (architect who drew the plans), Evenhouse Construction/Chad & Jess (general contracting), Larry Counts (volunteer house leader), Purdue University Calumet Construction Management Department/Tony Gregory & Dennis Korchek (building of the walls), Neises Construction (discounted excavating & concrete), Tri Creek Lumber (lumber at cost), Tree Care and Removal/Ken Novak (took the tree down), KNZ Heating/Keith Miller (donating all labor and all material), Anderson Plumbing/Craig Anderson (donating labor), Hulsey Electric/Independent Electrical Contractors Indiana Chapter (donating labor), Leeps Supply/Chet (discounting plumbing materials), AO Smith/National Sales (donated water heater) and Liberty Floors & Window Coverings/Bob Johnson (material at cost).

Dr. Randall McQueen, pastor of First United Methodist Church in Griffith where Dietz attended her classes and subsequently became a member, opened the ground breaking ceremony with a personal blessing.

Then, Dan Klein, executive director of Habitat for Humanity summed it up best:

"This is a hand up, not a hand out. It's a long process for the homeowner, and this is an exciting day - it's about Danah and her family!"

For more information on Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana, including volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups, call (219) 923-7265 or go to nwihabitat.org online.