HABITAT FOR HUMANITY; FAMILY DEDICATES NEW HOME

After six months of work, the house is nearly complete. Just a few things need to be finished. A shed needs to be put up in the backyard. The front lawn needs to be leveled off. The city inspectors must give their final approval.

But for Bertha King and her son, Willie Colon, those are minor things, and the wait has been worth it. She is more than ready to move into her new home -- a home she applied for nearly two years ago, a home she helped build with members of the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat members crowded into the living room of the house, a modest two-bedroom bungalow on Centennial Drive, for the formal dedication Sunday afternoon. Each member could point to a part of a wall or a section of roof they had helped construct. For 80 percent of the workers, it was the first house they had ever helped build. For many it will not be their last.

Habitat for Humanity, an ecumenical housing ministry, builds low-cost housing for people like Bertha who need homes that are livable and affordable. Since its inception in 1976, the organization has constructed 75,000 worldwide.

The Cape Girardeau chapter has built nine houses since 1986 with No. 10 on the way.

"We have built about one house a year. We hope to increase that to two," said Miles White, a member of the local Habitat board.

The organization does not give houses away but joins in partnerships with the homeowner families. Habitat for Humanity finances the houses and charges no interest to the families.

In addition to making monthly payments on the house, each homeowner family is required to invest "sweat equity" in constructing the home and the homes of others. The sweat equity acts as a down payment on the house. Bertha King and her son both committed themselves to working 350 hours building houses.

Working with King were volunteers from local businesses and churches. Ten churches from the area contributed manpower and resources to build the home.

Cape LaCroix United Methodist Church was the primary sponsor of King's house. They provided the funds to buy the lot on which the house sits.

Then, for two weeks during June, a minimum of 10 volunteers a day worked on building the house. By the end of the two-week blitz, about 80 percent of the house was finished, said Bill Cheeseman, construction chairman and president of the local Habitat board.

"It went from being just a concrete slab to having a roof and siding and drywall," he said.

King's son pointed with pride to his new room. He picked out the blue paint and the basketball doorknobs. But more than that, he pointed with pride to the house into which he poured his own sweat equity.

At 12, Willie helped to put on the roof that will soon be above his head. He has also been helping with the roof on Habitat's next project a block away.

It is a lesson that was echoed in the words of his mother as she spoke to the crowd gathered in her living room. After sharing her dream -- the American Dream -- of owning her own home, her eyes filled with tears and her voice quaked.

"When my home is done, I'll be there to help the next family and the next family and the next family," she said.

Then she handed a plaque of gratitude to Cheeseman. "We're richer when we give and poorer when we keep," it read.