WSFA 12 News Montgomery, AL |Wiregrass Newsroom: Habitat for Humanity charting a new course in Geneva county

Wiregrass Newsroom: Habitat for Humanity charting a new course in Geneva county

Posted by: Melissa McKinney - bio | email

SLOCOMB, AL (WSFA) -- The sound of hammering isn't unfamiliar to Wiregrass Habitat for Humanity volunteers, but the setting is.  A recently built Habitat house in Slocomb will soon belong to Stephanie Denney.  

"I wanna cry because it's such a joy," says Denney.

She's the first Habitat home owner in Geneva county.

"When I got out here, I just...at that point I got real comfortable, but I'd never lived in Geneva county before."

But now she's warming up to the idea.   And Habitat organizers are too by branching out into rural areas as need increases.

Habitat leaders say they get nearly 10 calls per week from people asking about homes and many from folks outside Dothan.  

It may be the first Habitat home in Geneva county, but it won't be the last.  Organizers say this first house in Slocomb is just the beginning of more building in the area.

"We own the lot adjacent to us here, and hopefully in the next couple years we'll be able to build something there," says Wiregrass Habitat for Humanity board member and volunteer, Don Swanson.

Leaders hope expanding their reach is a win-win situation where families get homes, and communities respond with much needed support since donations are down this year.

"We're hoping it just opens up more avenues that people [will] be aware that we are willing to come down here and able to, we just do need local support," says Swanson.

They'll get that local support from Denney.

"Habitat's been a big inspiration in my life."

She's committed to giving back a little of what they're giving her.

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