Traci Spurgeon and her three children were living in substandard housing when she began her relationship with MacHabitat. Traci applied to our Homeownership Program in January 2015 and was accepted into our program in April 2015. Over the following 15 months, Traci, along with her friends and family, completed over 300 hours of sweat equity, by attending homeowner classes, working on her house, working in the ReStore, volunteering at events, and helping build her neighbors’ houses. On July 15, Traci signed her mortgage documents.
The preparation and dedication of a new home is not only a testament to the hard work of the volunteers who built the house, but also to the generosity of our community partners, like Washington Roofing, who has provided free roofs to every MacHabitat home for 25 years. In preparation for move-in day, volunteers made sure the new house was spotlessly clean, Morris Carpet Cleaning generously donated their services to clean the insides and outsides of the windows, and McMinnville Grocery Outlet filled the empty cabinets for with food, spices, toiletries, and necessities – a gift they provide our new homeowners. .
We celebrated and dedicated Traci’s home on July 16 in the presence of Traci’s three children, her partner, friends, family, coworkers, community members, and volunteers and staff of MacHabitat. Traci’s employer, Harvest Fresh, donated a delicious feast and volunteers from community groups, such as First Presbyterian Church and the American Needlepoint Guild, presented gifts of their craft including hand-made quilts for each of the children and a beautiful dated ornament.
Seeing the joy in the faces of this sweet family eminds us all of the power of our contributions! Thank you to everyone who was a part of making Traci’s dream of homeownership become a reality!
Photo Credit: Frank Pons
