Local Habitat for Humanity chapter building its 55th home

The Cape Area Habitat for Humanity will build its 55th home this summer.

The home will be built at 828 James St. in Jackson for Casey Rehkop and her family, Al Stoverink of Habitat for Humanity said.

The organization also will build another home in Cape Girardeau this summer, and it is trying for a third.

Lot development, including the connection of water and sewer lines, has begun. The official groundbreaking hasn’t been set, but it likely will be around June 1.

Stoverink said the selection process for homes can take more than a year.

“It’s definitely a long process,” he said. “We don’t give the houses away.”

Applicants must prove their ability to keep up payments on a discounted, no-interest mortgage over 25 years, in addition to investing several hundred hours of sweat equity.

Recipients are billed based on their ability to pay, not the value of the house, which is typically $110,000 to $120,000.

Rehkop’s house will be four-bedroom, which is slightly larger than the standard Habitat for Humanity house because her family is larger than normal.

“I am so thankful for Habitat for Humanity,” Rehkop said. “Without them, I do not know what my family would do, housing-wise.”

But the project is not without a small controversy concerning a gravel road that leads to the lot.

Several residents who live nearby on James Street said the road is not wide enough for development to proceed because construction vehicles would cause traffic blockages.

Stoverink said the city is considering methods of widening the road, most likely with gravel, so construction can proceed without unduly affecting neighbors.

“We’re certainly committed to partnering with the city on that to make that road upgrade happen,” he said.

Robinson Construction and Buchheit Enterprises are donating the materials and much of the labor for the job, but Stoverink said the organization will need volunteers to finish it.

“And we’re always taking donations,” he said.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627