Home sweet home

Habitat for Humanity helps family build own home

MOSES LAKE — Owning their own home was never a possibility for the Solis family of five.

That is until 2003 when Izolda Solis saw an advertisement for people in need of decent housing.

She applied and within two to three weeks was told her family had been chosen by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Moses Lake to have a house built for them.

"I was excited, but at the same time I had lots of questions," Solis said.

The Solis home was the fifth built by the local Habitat for Humanity organization since it formed in 1996.

A Family Selection Committee made up of volunteers, in conjunction with the HFHGML board, chooses candidates for the homes based on their ability to afford adequate housing with proper plumbing, wiring and heating.

Candidates must also reside in Moses Lake, be able to make payments on the house via a no interest loan, fall within 25 to 50 percent of the poverty level and be willing to commit at least 450 sweat equity hours to help volunteers complete the project.

Every Saturday for a year Solis, her three daughters and husband Jacinto would come to help build the house, a home that would prove to be much more accommodating than the trailer park they were living in off of Broadway Avenue.

In their two-bedroom trailer, there was not enough space for the growing Solis family and their winter heat bills reached as high as $100 due to inadequate insulation.

Now a year after the Solis family moved into their new home, they are enjoying the benefits of owning a house.

The more than 1,000-square-foot home, complete with three bedrooms, kitchen appliances and a backyard, is also an Energy Star Home. That means it is at least 15 percent more energy efficient than most homes built today.

The Grant County PUD working with HFHGML helped acquire a contractor to build more energy efficient homes.

"Every single one the PUD can help us on, we're going to work that way," said HFHGML president Curtis Robillard. "It just makes sense in the long run for these families."

On Saturday HFHGML will break ground at 10 a.m. on two duplexes scheduled to be built off of Craig Street, raising the total to seven homes built. The Housing Authority of Grant County donated the lot for the duplexes.

Money to build the homes are raised through the annual Festival of Trees put on by HFHGML. At last year's festival $30,000 was raised from the local community for that purpose.

The 11th annual Festival of Trees will be taking place Nov. 26 at the Advanced Technologies Education Center at Big Bend Community College.

"We should have plenty of room out there," Robillard said.

Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with a silent auction and hors d'oeuvres followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and live auction at 8 p.m.

Auction items include 11 decorated trees, a south of the border theme dinner, a rock climbing adventure, quilts and a 8-by-12 storage shed donated by Skillsource.

One of the auctioned trees will be bid on and donated to Samaritan Hospital for children who are hospitalized over Christmas.

Volunteers who decorate the trees are asked to choose a theme and place 1,000 lights on their donated tree.

The Festival of Trees began in 1994. At that time, Catholic Family and Child Services oversaw the event and in 1996 asked HFHGML to help, eventually giving the event over to the organization.

Tickets are $35 each or $65 per couple and $250 for a table of eight.

For more information, call (509) 766-9321.