The Hanover Habitat for Humanity organization continues to change lives, one family at a time. Last week, the group dedicated its 38th house in the area, and the owner couldn’t have been more appreciative of their efforts.

Jill Tribble, the single mother of two daughters, said the new home would transform her family’s life. “It’s a life-changing experience for us,” she said. “Just to have our own bedrooms and a place we can truly call home is almost unbelievable.”

Hundreds of volunteers, including Tribble, donated hours of sweat equity to make the project a success. The result is a three-bedroom rancher located on Ashcake Road near Center Street that any homeowner would be proud to call home.

“We try to build homes that fit the neighborhood,” said Habitat executive director Tim Bowring. “The people who own these houses have jobs and contribute sweat equity in the project to construct these homes.”

Bowring said this house was unique in that the group planned to complete the house in one day in December since the walls arrived prefabricated. “The walls were built and delivered by a church group called Crossroads, so we built the foundation in advance,” Bowring said. “We had 85 volunteers out here in pouring rain but we finally had to call it quits because of the weather.”

Snow and rain delayed construction for months. “A house that we literally thought would take us one day ended up taking us five months,” Bowring said.

“This experience is a major accomplishment for these families,” he added. “A lot of agencies will help with one aspect of your life or another, but the idea here is to break the cycle of poverty. You give them immediate equity so they connect to the homes.”

None of the agency’s previous projects have resulted in foreclosure, quite an accomplishment in an economically challenged environment.

The building project also enjoyed the benefits of a new collegiate challenge where four colleges sent teams to perform volunteer work on the project. “They came down here on their spring breaks and we really benefited from their help,” Bowring said. More than 100 college students participated in the program.

One of those was Teddy Wavell, a business major from Randolph-Macon College, who began work on the house in January as a Habitat intern. The project was eye-opening for the Charlottesville native, who now plans to make construction a major part of his future career.

“I loved seeing this project take place from the ground up,” he said. “I saw people giving back to their community. I’ve never done a complete project like this,” he added.

Wavell works with the R-MC Habitat group, and said he plans to take his experience home and put it to good use. “I plan on going home after graduation and starting a construction company.”

Garrett Augustine was the construction manager on the project. During the ceremony, he was busy working on the next Habitat home, located next to the Tribble property, but took time to reflect on the past months’ work.

“I began working with Habitat in Richmond and volunteered to come out here for the original build day when the weather killed us,” he said. “I enjoy working with the homeowners. It really makes a difference for them.”

For Tribble and her daughters Danielle and Desirae, the day marks the beginning in a new chapter of their lives.

“Thank you to Habitat for allowing me and my daughters to be one of the partner families,” Tribble said. “This will be a moment I will never forget. It’s such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to know that an average single working parent can achieve her dream, with the help of volunteers and Habitat.”

Katrina Farrell was Tribble’s advocate and helped through the tedious and sometimes overwhelming process of completing the project. “She’s been there for me throughout the whole process and she helped put my mind at ease on many occasions when I was feeling anxious.”

Bowring said the agency has weathered financial hard times by seeking new forms of financing for these important projects. The group now teams with the United States Department of Agriculture to secure the lots.

“We like to think of it as the new Habitat model,” he said. “I knew we would need additional sources of funding when the economy took a turn, so we partnered with USDA to make the program work.”

He said the past model of locating the poorest family, building the most inexpensive home possible, and then basically walking away is history.
“These are hard-working people who would never have the resources to buy a home on their own,” he said. “We’re building homes that fit well in the communities they are located, and giving people a life-changing opportunity.

Jill Tribble will certainly attest to those observations.

“This has been a long exciting journey for me and my girls — a dream come true!”