THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 17, 1995 TAG: 9512150194
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Even the early morning rain and bitter cold couldn't keep Priscilla Jones from smiling last weekend as a crowd gathered in her new home.
The guests didn't even seem to notice that the house on South Broad Street wasn't quite finished. There were frames to be put around some of the doors, kitchen counter tops and bathroom fixtures to be installed and inspections to be completed.
After that, the heat and electricity could be turned on and Jones would be able to move in.
The Habitat for Humanity volunteers who had built the two-story house needed about another week.
``Priscilla will be in, the Lord willing and the creek don't rise, well before Christmas,'' said Fran Alwood, Suffolk's project manager, who coordinated the dedication service.
Jones, a custodian at Florence Bowser Elementary School, is Suffolk's third Habitat for Humanity homesteader. She was able to afford the no-interest mortgage since much of the material had been donated and most of the labor was done by volunteers.
``I'm proud to be a Habitat homesteader,'' Jones told the standing-room-only crowd.
To qualify for a Habitat home, a homesteader must demonstrate need, have an adequate income and a good credit rating. The homesteader also must contribute 400 hours of ``sweat equity'' to the project.
Jones had become a Habitat volunteer even before her house was started, helping build the second Habitat house next door for Arthur Beamon. That house was completed in April.
Dan Anglim, who supervised the construction of both houses, was introduced as ``the man who built this house.''
``I certainly didn't build it by myself,'' Anglim said. ``Most important of all, the Lord has been here. You'd hear a hammer blow, then somebody would say, `Lord . . . not again.' ''
Countless volunteers - most of them amateurs - had worked on the project.
``Every nail we drove has a prayer attached to it,'' Anglim said. ``That is the theology of the hammer.''
The Habitat organizers will wait until spring to start a fourth house.
Meanwhile, they will be selecting a site and the next homesteader and looking for volunteers willing to supervise part of the work. MEMO: For more information or to donate time, money or materials, call Fran
Alwood at 539-5780.
ILLUSTRATION: Photo by SUSIE STOUGHTON
Habitat manager Fran Alwood, left, talks with homesteader Priscilla
Jones.
by CNB