New year, new home

MOSES LAKE — Madison Jennings and her kids should be moving into their new home next month.

A brand-new house, too. Three bedrooms, two baths, sizable kitchen, with the cabinets and carpets and flooring just like she wanted. One that she and her kids helped build.

The newest Habitat for Humanity house, built with the help of volunteer labor and donated materials, was dedicated Thursday. It’s passed final inspection but there are a few last-minute chores to finish. Jennings said completion is projected for early January. She is a first-time homeowner.

She gave a tour of the almost-completed house on Lowry Street. It’s got a big living room/dining room; “I love the bay window,” she said.

She got to choose the kitchen cabinets and counters. “Watching the kitchen come together was a lot of fun,” she said. She chose the wall colors and carpeting, along with the wood-look linoleum in the dining room, kitchen and bathrooms. “I had a lot of say.”

Her daughter and son each have their own room, and Mom’s room has its own bath and a big closet. The contractor found a way to make the closet even bigger than originally planned, she said, and for that he has a fan for life.

“Fun process,” she said.

The lot on Lowry was donated to the organization a few years ago and is next door to a previous Habitat house. Volunteers help with the construction, and many of the materials are provided at a discount and sometimes donated. Habitat also sometimes gets a discount from the specialty guys that do the work requiring inspection, the jobs like plumbing and electrical work.

Habitat also works with homeowners on the financing. “I basically purchase the house at the cost to build it.”

Jennings is required to donate at least 300 hours to Habitat, working on the house or at other Habitat activities like the annual Festival of Trees.

She hit a bump in life’s road, Jennings said, one that required her and the kids to move back in with her parents. It was supposed to be a temporary solution, but finding a house in Moses Lake turned out to be difficult.

Jennings’ sister planned to buy a house that she could rent, but that deal fell through, she said. The real estate agent who was working with the sisters told Jennings about Habitat for Humanity, and that they were taking applications for a new homeowner.

Now that the house is almost finished, Jennings said she can’t wait. “I am so antsy to get in. It won’t be real until we’re actually in here.”

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.