HOT SPRINGS — “This house means the world to me. I’ve never been a homeowner before,” Tequila Summerville told a reporter as she sat in a plastic lawn chair in one of the bedrooms of her unfinished Habitat for Humanity house. “I am so grateful to the people of St. John for making this house possible.”
St. John the Baptist Church in Hot Springs is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the parish. The centennial committee, headed by Doug Hall, committed the resources of the church to build a Habitat for Humanity house as a way for the parishioners to give back to the community.
Dr. Clint Henson, a member of the centennial committee, agreed to chair the project, overseeing the fundraising and recruiting volunteers.
“The more I have learned about Habitat for Humanity,” Henson said, “the more I have been intrigued by this event. For the families that get to move into these houses, it is a life-changing experience. There is not a more concrete or straightforward way to help people in the community.”
According to Henson, the project has been a two-way street, with the parish benefiting also. Parishioners who were strangers to each other have spent their Saturdays working side by side, whether swinging hammers, doing landscaping or painting walls.
“We tried to involve as many parishioners as possible,” said Deacon Patrick McCruden. Crews of five to 15 parishioners have shown up each week to work on the house.
“It has brought people in the parish together working a common project, thus enriching the camaraderie of the parish,” he said.
Approximately 200 parishioners will have participated in the building process, according to McCruden.
Henson and McCruden both emphasized that parishioners had given of their time, talent and treasure.
“Other parishioners donated money. Some parishioners, who have expertise in the building trades, gave of their skill by donating electrical work, plumbing and/or hanging dry-wall,” Henson said.
The cost of a typical three-bedroom house built by Habitat for Humanity is $45,000. Parishioners have made in-kind donations in the amount of approximately $10,000 and reduced St. John’s commitment to about $35,000.
Habitat for Humanity is not a give-away program. The families who become Habitat homeowners must be able to make a down payment, pay closing costs and make monthly house payments. The homeowners must also invest “sweat equity.” If the family has one adult, 250 hours must be given to the building process, either in their own home or the homes of others. If there are two adults, 350 hours are required.
These houses are sold for no profit, but the mortgage payments go to build other Habitat houses. Summerville works full time as a certified nursing assistant at Arkansas Hospice. Because her family qualified for a Habitat for Humanity House, her Saturdays are spent putting “sweat equity” into the Habitat building project in a part of Hot Springs that will be known as Shaw Village. The property was donated to Habitat for Humanity by the Chester Shaw family. The two houses under construction now are the first of a planned 18 homes. Shaw Village should be completed by the end of 2009.
The 1,100-square-foot home with three bedrooms and one bath is scheduled for completion in August. Summerville, her daughter, Marquita Warren, 15, and two sons, Rongerald Witherspoon, 9, and Aleric Summerville, 10 months, will move into the house after a dedication ceremony.
