GREENFIELD — Building Esther Roberts’ home requires a lot of decisions. What style should the window sills be? Shingles or shiplap?
With every decision and every layer of paint, Roberts is watching the house take shape under the work of her own hands — and many others’ hands as well.
Roberts, a Wilkinson resident, is the third homeowner to be chosen to receive a house in Hancock County through Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indy. The house is well underway, with drywall hung and volunteers working to lay linoleum and spread coats of blue paint during a recent workday on the house being built south of downtown Greenfield. Paul Lynch, the tiger, or volunteer supervisor for that day, said exterior painting should begin in earnest this week.
“I’m counting down the days,” Roberts said. “We’re in the last 29-day stretch before I’m handed the keys.”
The opportunity to own her own home is something Roberts is deeply thankful for after years of financial struggle, she said.
Roberts’ family has struggled since 2016, when her divorce led to moving into her parents’ home in Wilkinson along with her four children, she wrote in a news release. She had formerly been a stay-at-home mom but now works at Covance in Greenfield, she said.
She was encouraged by a friend to apply to become a Habitat homeowner, she said. She’s never owned a home, which she considers an important life step, especially as a parent, she said.
On top of taking educational courses about home-ownership and budgeting, Roberts has worked six days on the construction of her house, which is just down the street from the other two Habitat houses built in Greenfield.
She hammered in the first nail and has done her fair share of laying coats of paint and applications of caulk.
She said while she was taking classes, her home seemed like a hypothetical, but once she and other volunteers began building the house, it seemed to go up really quickly.
“It’s surreal to think I’m going to own this house,” she said. “My kids are going to grow up, grow older in this house.”
Habitat operations expanded to include Hancock County in 2014, when Habitat opened its Hancock County ReStore, a home improvement thrift store that sells donated new and gently used merchandise at a discount to the public. Proceeds benefit Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity.
Greater Indy Habitat boasts two other ReStore locations. The three locations generated some $1.5 million in revenue in 2016, which funded recruitment efforts, no-interest affordable mortgages and home ownership education for Habitat clients.
Trish Botta, the recipient of the first Habitat house built in 2016, has helped to build the third house several days, she said. Helping out with Roberts’ house build is a delightful trip down memory lane, she said.
“It’s so much fun to see the color go up,” she said. “It’s like, ‘I remember that!’”
Botta was almost as excited about Roberts’ house as she was for her own, adding, “this is going to be awesome for her.”
Roberts said she’s been overwhelmed by the generosity of those who volunteer to help build her future home.
“Nobody expects a benefit, nobody ever complains,” she said. “It’s just the generosity of everybody involved from the get-go.”
