Wayne Allen | Daily Times

Beulah Baptist Church pastor Adrian Jones presented Carey White with a bible on Sunday at the dedication of the 11th Habitat for Humanity house in Scioto County.

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WAYNE ALLEN

PDT Staff Writer

Friends and family of Carey White gathered Sunday afternoon for the dedication of a Habitat for Humanity home built for her and her family. Ground was broken for the home located on Linden Avenue in Portsmouth in May and was completed in mid-September.

“We are excited to celebrate with our newest homeowner Carey White and her family,” said Perry Prosch, Scioto County Habitat for Humanity spokesman. “This is an exciting time for Scioto County Habitat. Our mission is to create safe, decent, affordable housing. Through the help of our many volunteers we are making our mission a reality.”

Once the home is constructed a mortgage is placed on the home for the price of construction. The family is responsible for those monthly payments to Habitat. That money is used by the organization to construct more homes.

Habitat for Humanity International is located in more than 100 countries and has completed more than 500,000 homes. According to www.sciotohabitat.org, “Habitat is committed to ending poverty housing, one home at a time, by building a decent home for a family in need. Scioto County Habitat for Humanity has found its message of offering a ‘hand up’ not a ‘handout’ has been well received in our community. Partnerships have been formed, and continue to be formed, which enable successful completion of this project, and another family in need helped.”

As a part of the ceremony longtime Scioto County Habitat for Humanity Construction Manager Jeff Hamilton was honored. Earlier in the month, Hamilton announced he would be retiring as construction manager with the completion of the Linden Avenue house. At the Habitat for Humanity state conference earlier in the year, Hamilton was named volunteer of the year.

With the completion of the Linden Avenue home Habitat has six homes in Portsmouth, three in New Boston, one in West Portsmouth and one in South Webster.

It was recently announced that Scioto County has received $500,000 in Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) funding from the Ohio Department of Development. Included in the funding is $40,000 for Scioto County Habitat For Humanity to construct two homes.

“We are grateful to the Scioto County Commissioners for including us in their CHIP application. This funding will allow us bring the dream of home ownership to two families in Scioto County,” said Judy Meeker, Co-President of Scioto County Habitat For Humanity. “We will now start the process of looking for locations for the homes and qualified families.”

For more information about the Scioto County Habitat For Humanity or to help, visit www.sciotohabitat.org or call 740-353-4993.

Wayne Allen may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 208, or wallen@heartlandpublications.com.