The Davis family was all smiles on Saturday as they were handed keys to their brand new Forhan Street home in Wallaceburg, built with the help of Habitat for Humanity Chatham-Kent.
Dozens of people joined Becca and Ryan Davis, along with their three children, Isaac, 8, April, 7, and Olive, 2, for the key turning ceremony.
Becca told the Sydenham Current she was overwhelmed with joy.
“It’s so exciting,” she said. “Like I said earlier, I am not very often at a loss of words. I am a pretty chatty girl, but this is a pretty overwhelming experience. It’s really full of joy. Lots of excitement.”
Becca said her children had one thing on their mind once the door to their new home was opened.
“The kids are so excited,” she said. “They know where they are they are going. They ran right downstairs ‘I want to go see my room.'”
Becca said it’s a new start for their family.
“It’s a really important milestone in my life,” she said. “It’s something I have always wanted and we have always wanted to say that we have a home that is ours that is our forever home. So it has been a pretty exciting time to be able to say that this is finally a reality for us.”
A special room was built in the house for Ryan Davis’ medical needs. He has been on dialysis for almost four years and undergoes over three hours of treatments every other day. The only space in their previous house was in their in the basement, which has had major flooding issues in the past.
“The first time I walked in and saw drywall and paint on the walls, I was in tears,” Becca said.
“I think for Ryan it’s going to make that experience a lot more pleasant for him. As its something he has to do every other day and it’s not something he enjoys doing, I don’t imagine anybody would, but for him to be able to have a space that feels comfortable. More part of the home than the last one did, will make the difference for sure.”
Becca said it was a great experience working with the Habitat for Humanity crew.
“You couldn’t meet more loving, hardworking and wonderful people,” she said.
Becca said her family and friends logged over 900 volunteer hours during the building process.
“We were welcome to come anytime and then they also have special designated build days where they welcome people from the community to come so we all came and hammered nails and put up the walls and lifted them together,” she said. “It was really cool.”
Nancy McDowell, executive director for Habitat for Humanity Chatham-Kent said Saturday was time to celebrate with the completion of their second build.
“To celebrate all of the volunteers, the donors and all of the groups and organizations that came together to make this happen for the Davis family,” she said. “It’s a celebration of them receiving the keys. We just tried to recognize all the different people. It’s hard, there are so many. I mean obviously by the list of donors, there were a lot of people and a lot of donors that stepped up. Some who have helped us in the past build. Some that were new to this build.”
McDowell said the whole process is “quite amazing.
“It’s kind of like an old fashion raising of the barn. The community comes together to help one of their own,” she said.
McDowell said there was approximately 1,400 volunteer hours out into the build.
“Not to mention all of the trades that put in the time to pour the concrete and things like that,” she said. “The family itself put in nearly 900 hours of friends and family and relatives who donated their hours for them.”
McDowell said the group is working towards a build in Charing Cross next year.
“This is only our second build but we are starting to gain steam and hopefully soon we will be doing more than one a year,” she said.
Here are a some more photos of the event:
