Thanks to Habitat for Humanity, family gets a home for the holidays

After almost two years of working and waiting, John and Ashlei Sterling of Cape Girardeau were presented with keys to their new home on North Main Street on Sunday.

The couple and their four children are the most recent recipients of a home from Cape Area Habitat For Humanity.

On Sunday afternoon, an open house and dedication ceremony were held at the home. Representatives of the organization and of Southeast Missouri State University, family, friends, volunteers who worked on the home and city leaders attended to wish the family well and give gifts.

The four-bedroom, two-bath home was officially completed Saturday, according to Terry Juden, Habitat For Humanity's construction manager. The family will occupy the home just in time for Christmas.

"For me, I don't quite feel like reality has set in. I can't wait to get in and start making this our home," said Ashlei Sterling.

The Sterlings were required to complete 350 "sweat equity" hours to qualify for the program and have their home built. They completed the majority of their hours building other local Habitat For Humanity homes before the construction began on their project.

Juden said the building of the home, which was completed on the university campus entirely by volunteers, many of them students, was a special situation.

At least 300 students helped with the project while the structure was still on the campus, and countless more continued to show up to help once the home was moved down Broadway and onto North Main Street.

A high level of student interest in the project has spurred a partnership between the organization and the university with a plan to build at least one home annually.

"This house is the embryonic beginning of something we hope will happen year after year," said Robin Cole, president of Cape Area Habitat for Humanity.

The partnership will mean an opportunity for students to participate in a learning service project which can count toward credit hours or a graduation requirement for some majors.

Juden said the projects can give students who choose a construction management major leadership experience, since they will be coordinating projects for other students. The partnership will also bring students from other universities to work on the learning service projects.

Bruce Skinner, director of residence life at Southeast, attended the dedication ceremony Sunday and spoke to the Sterling family and other attendees during a recognition of volunteers.

"The involvement provides something that has a lasting impact for the students and the community," said Skinner.

Five-year-old Jashawn Sterling, right, shows his friend Shaine Barry around his new Habitat for Humanity house in Cape Girardeau. (LAURA SIMON)

Habitat For Humanity is supported financially by Thrivent Financial, a nationwide Lutheran group, and other large corporations and local companies who do fundraising. Local Lutheran churches also supplement funding.

Many local companies donate materials to be used in the construction of homes. Buchheit in Jackson supplied many materials used in the Sterlings' home and will supply 25 percent of the materials for the next Cape Girardeau home.

Families who occupy the homes are responsible for a 20-year mortgage after the home is completed.

Habitat For Humanity now has four projects in progress scheduled to be completed in 2010 in Cape Girardeau, Marble Hill, Mo., Perryville, Mo., and Sikeston, Mo.