Last week we poured our final foundation at The Grove and selected the last eight homebuyers. Achieving these milestones gives us a good opportunity to reflect on our journey to get to this point.
Breaking ground in June 2017, it was daunting to contemplate that we’d be working on one project on the same patch of dirt until June 2021. During that period our team would construct twenty-four homes, rally thousands of volunteers, recruit twenty-four new households, and raise over six million dollars in funding while also maintaining a newly reopened ReStore and managing a growing staff. We’ve accomplished a lot over these two and a half years and we have more to do.
Our plan was to complete the project in three stages of eight homes every sixteen months to achieve our goal of twenty-four homes by June 2021. In four months we had framed the first four units and were well underway with the next four. As winter approached the construction team, the volunteers and the future homebuyers knew they had only twelve months to complete all eight homes. Our team knew the amount of work that lay ahead and pressed on. We had made a promise to our community–these families will purchase a stable home for their children and a place to grow—and we had exactly one year to finish the job.
Walls were built, roof panels flown and buildings dried in. We stuffed insulation, (we froze), laid floors, set doors, set trim and cabinets, rolled paint and before we knew it we were calling for volunteers to help with a final clean. We had done it! We-the Habitat team, volunteers, AmeriCorps members, donors, and future homebuyers- had built more homes than ever before in the history of Teton Habitat! The first Grove Dedication Ceremony was a celebration when our homebuyers, who had worked hard for sixteen months finally received the keys to their own homes. It was also a celebration for all the volunteers who contributed their Saturdays and our donors and community partners who strengthened the project with their support. And what a true celebration it was.
After the dedication, everyone took a long weekend break but in the back of our minds we knew that next week, we’d start the process all over again. We had momentum and we had eight new partner families to serve. Since last October we’ve been working on the next eight units, raising funds and working to educate and empower these families to succeed in their new homes. With less than three and a half months to go, it’s time to reflect again on our accomplishment and to invite you to celebrate with us–the Habitat team, the volunteers, AmeriCorps members, the donors, and most of all the future homebuyers. We’ve built homes, we’ve built community and together we’ve created hope—together!
Please join us for the next Grove Home Dedication on February 13th, 2020 at St. John’s Episcopal Church from 5PM-8PM.