The Scioto County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity will dedicate its latest completed house Sunday at 2 p.m. at 1526 Grandview Ave. in Portsmouth.

“We are dedicating our seventh project,” Scioto County Habitat for Humanity Co-President Laura Walker said.

Walker said the project started around the end of July, when some students from Bike and Build came through and created the flooring. On Aug. 4, a church group from Florence, Ky., arrived at the project site and brought the walls and money for the truck.

A setback occurred when, after students at the Scioto County Career Technical Center put in the electrical equipment, someone stole the copper wiring. “And they (students) came back and did it again,” Walker beamed.

Walker laid out the schedule for Sunday’s dedication.

“On Sunday we will have a program. Hopefully we will have some dignitaries from the county. Sometimes we even have a Congressperson, I’m not sure who will be there,” Walker said. “We’ll have prayer and singing, and we’ll talk about our organization. And then we actually will present the keys to the homeowner.”

The homeowner is Rebecca Fisher, mother of three young children, an EMT at Able Ambulance Service.

Rebecca has been as busy as the other volunteers creating the place she and her family will call home.

“She has really been a hands-on person,” Walker said. “We require them to do a certain number of hours. But if you would go there you would know this is going to be her house. Just about every day she has been there, even when she wasn’t off, she would run things by. She has had her friends help as well.”

Walker said a single head of household must contribute 250 hours, and a couple 350 hours, with friends being allowed to contribute up to 100 hours of actual labor, and 50 hours can be non-construction. It is also required that the family is able to pay the mortgage on the home once it is finished.

“You have to qualify from the day we sign you on until the day we hand you the key,” Walker said. “And if something happens, we will work with you. Many times we have had to change the length of our mortgages from 20 years to 40 years just to make it fit. But we can’t change it to make it happen if you don’t have income.”

During the course of a project, hundreds of people may be involved in the actual physical labor involved in a Habitat for Humanity project.

For every house the Scioto County Chapter has built, they have financed another house in Central America. The local chapter tithes, sending 10 percent of unrestricted donations to the national organization.

“We have requested that our money go to a Central American country,” Walker said. “Every time we build a house here our tithes are enough to build a house down there.”

Walker credits the people of Scoioto County with the successes experienced by Habitat for Humanity. In fact, she has experienced the love and friendliness of the people of this area first hand over the years herself.

“This is going on 20 years that I have been here in this area. And I can honestly say that I have had some of the best neighbors and friends anybody could ask for. And I have never been down that somebody didn’t come and ask if I needed help.”

“My car stopped on me just a couple of weeks ago. And as soon as I raised the hood, somebody was there. This man started banging on something, and he said, ‘turn the key and start it. It’s your starter.’”

Walker said there are a lot of partners involved in the building project. For example, Whirlpool donates a refrigerator, Larson donates the doors, and Yale the locks, and the homeowner is able to choose the color of the siding, carpeting, the kitchen cabinets, and other features that go into creating the home.

Walker said Fisher’s children, ages 6 to 10 have been just as excited about the project as their mother.

“To those children, it’s just like Christmas,” Walker said. “They say every day she goes over there and she sees something, and it is like Christmas for her.”

You can sense the pride in Walker’s voice as she describes the process involved in putting together a home for someone.

“I think it’s just as exciting for us as it is for the homeowner,” Walker said. “And I can tell you, when you see the joy, I mean the sheer joy on the faces of the people, you know you’ve made a difference.”

Frank Lewis may be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 232.