Habitat for Humanity Chatham-Kent (CK) has broken ground on its 10th local home build.
Chelsey Labelle, a single mother to 12-year-old Hillary and 10-year-old Maddy, will be the owner of the three bedroom home being built in Dresden.
The home owner, who currently lives in Chatham, got emotional during the event when discussing just how much this means to her and her children.
"One of the number one things I'm looking forward to is having the dining room table with four chairs that we can sit down at," Labelle said while wiping tears from her eyes. "That's something that is going to be really important to us."
Labelle has only lived in multi-residential units and added that the home will give her family generational stability.
"It's gonna feel like we're home now. I can't wait for Dresden to be that home," Labelle continued.
Becoming a homeowner has been a long process, according to Labelle. She had to fill out extensive paperwork, prove she could pay a mortgage, and is now responsible for hundreds of hours of volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity.
"She's responsible for 500 hours, but 300 of those can be done by family, friends, and ReStore volunteers," said Ann Taylor, Director of Partnerships and Stakeholder Relations at Habitat for Humanity CK.
Once the house is built, Labelle will pay an interest free mortgage based on no more than 30 per cent of her gross income.
The property, located on Main Street, was given to Habitat for Humanity by the Municipality of CK.
"It's like someone read our thoughts in the municipality," said Taylor when discussing the difficulty of finding a property for the home. "We've always wanted to build in Dresden, we just never could acquire land."
Mayor Darrin Canniff and Councillors Amy Finn, Rhonda Jubenville, and Alysson Storey attended the event.
"Council as a whole, we are proud of what is happening here today," Canniff said, taking the time to thank Habitat for Humanity and community partners. "I want to thank everybody, and looking forward to seeing this happen."
The home will be two floors and is expected to be ready for its new family in the fall.
