ANGIE RIEBE STAFF WRITER MOUNTAIN IRON — Melissa Wallace has been both excited and rather nervous for today. After all, the official ground breaking on her family’s new Habitat for Humanity house is a life-changing event for Wallace and her three kids, Skyla 16, Aryona, 13, and Donald, 12. “It means to us a new beginning and an even happier ending,” she said Wednesday. The Habitat house, which will make Wallace a first-time homeowner, will start a new chapter in their lives. “You grow up wanting a house of your own all your life. My kids will finally have a home,” she said. And the new house will end Wallace’s struggle of working extra long hours to keep up with utility payments on rented property. It will close the chapter in which Wallace has been forced to be away from her children and miss important times in their lives while trying to make ends meet. The community is invited to share in the ground-breaking celebration at 9 a.m. today at the site of the new Habitat home at 5699 Mineral Ave., in Mountain Iron. The three-bedroom home is being built with the help of Mesabi Community College’s second-year carpentry students. “I cannot explain how good it feels,” Wallace said of knowing she will soon “finally have a home I can afford.” She was previously renting a three-bedroom house, working far beyond full-time at two jobs, including at Edgewood Vista in Virginia, to pay for the $800 utility bill and other monthly expenses. And still, she said, “it was not enough.” Wallace said she felt “defeated” and missed many of her kids’ activities. She wasn’t there to help them with homework or to cook them dinner. “They are changing so fast as teenagers. I lost a lot of perspective on it. I felt I lost the hold I had on them because I was working so much,” she said. “In the end, I hope I can just work while the kids are at school and spend more quality time with them.” The average monthly mortgage payment for a three-bedroom, energy-efficient Habitat home is about $415, which includes real estate taxes and homeowners insurance. The Northern St. Louis County Habitat for Humanity affiliate has helped more than 60 families become homeowners in the past 19 years. Habitat for Humanity serves families in the northern part of the county who fall below 50 percent of the area’s median family income and earn at least $20,000 per year. The housing ministry works with people who would not qualify for a conventional mortgage. o Wallace and her kids are currently renting a small apartment in Virginia, and she expects to move into the new house “around May or June.” Groundwork has already started, said Wallace, who has been frequenting the site. “I go out there and look around, and sometimes it feels like it’s so far away. But they are already doing stuff, and it’s amazing how fast it’s actually happening. Every day I go out and when I leave my heart feels so big I could cry.” The students who are working on the project “are excited and happy to build a home for someone who needs one. It seems so selfless to me. It’s very nice,” Wallace said. And “I love working with all the volunteers,” most of whom “can tell you how many houses they’ve built and why they started (with Habitat).” Wallace will assist with some minor work on the house and is also helping with other area Habitat projects to put in the required “sweat equity.” Her kids, who attend Virginia schools, talk about their new house “every single day,” said Wallace, who admits she thinks about it daily, too. Her co-workers have also noticed that she is “walking around glowing” and “so smiley,” she said. “We will have our own backyard. It’s so nice to have something of your own. When my kids go to college they will be able to come home. ... They will always have something to come back to.” And most of all, “it will be nice to put the perspective back on the kids, to have them as a priority instead of a utility bill. The house will be energy-efficient and the utility and mortgage (payments) are something I can afford with only one job. I’ll be able to spend more time with the kids.” After all, “they are amazing. They are my best adventure,” Wallace said. “I’m grateful for this opportunity. I’m grateful for the people at Habitat and for the opportunity to own my own house.” Wallace will even have the chance to paint her new home, but she is letting her children pick the color. They are leaning toward a green tone, she said. However, Wallace told those constructing the house they could choose “any color on the roof,” she said. “I just want my own roof.”
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 15:34:40 +0000