Home dedication is a celebration of partnerships and new beginnings

As a new build season gets under way, Habitat for Humanity of Douglas County (HFHDC) will be celebrating the dedication of the Braford family home on Monday, May 7. The community is invited to take part in this event, which will take place at 4 p.m. at 821 Oak Street in Alexandria.

Construction on the home began last September. The Braford family home is the first concrete home built by the affiliate. Due to the family size there was need for a basement in this home. Traditional Habitat homes do not have basements, but are built slab on grade. Dennis Bitzan, of Bitzan-Ohren Masonry and Larry Okerlund, of Alexandria Concrete had discussed earlier the possibility of working together to do a concrete home for Habitat. After this discussion, Alexandria Concrete made the decision to donate the vertical concrete if the affiliate was interested in doing concrete construction.

As Habitat has been stretching to serve more families, it also became necessary to think outside the box to construct this home. A partnership with Alexandria Technical and Community College (ATCC) was the solution and worked perfectly with the concrete home plan.

First year construction students, under the direction of instructors Troy Rupp and Les Zimmerman, built the home over the course of their studies this past year. The ability to build a concrete home because of the partnership with Alexandria Concrete was an added bonus for their learning.

The Braford family has been eagerly awaiting the completion of their home. Due to the partnership with ATCC, construction of their home has spanned a larger timeframe than a traditional Habitat build. The family kept involved by weekly visiting the site with treats for the students. These visits helped the students get to know the family better and learn more about the mission of Habitat. The students will have an opportunity to take part in the dedication before classes wrap up.

The dedication will be a celebration of many partnerships that have come together in building this home. It will also be a celebration of a new beginning for the Braford family. Cassandra, her children Ramsey and Riyada, and her mother, Jean are looking forward to having a home of their own and to the possibility of a brighter future because of the stability a home provides.

Habitat for Humanity of Douglas County has been an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International since 1997 and has built 30 homes for sale to partner families throughout Douglas County, providing housing for 122 people.

Homeowner families are selected according to established criteria: need for housing, ability to partner with Habitat and ability to pay. Habitat for Humanity works in partnership with people in need to build or renovate decent, affordable housing. Partner families purchase the homes from Habitat with no-profit mortgages. Volunteers provide most of the labor. Tax deductible donations of money, land and materials are provided by individuals, organizations, churches, foundations and businesses.

For more information on how to support Habitat or get involved, contact the affiliate at (320) 762-4255, e-mail at info@hfhdouglascounty.org or the website at www.hfhdouglascounty.org.

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