For the second time, The Salvation Army in Warsaw has donated property that will become a Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County home.
Wednesday, a groundbreaking ceremony took place for the future house of Brianna Adams and her two boys, Jy’el Mack, 8, and Jyon Mack, 5. The property is at the intersection of Ellsworth and Lyon streets, just across the street from a previously built Habitat home The Salvation Army also donated the land for.
Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County Executive Director Ben Logan said Ken and Sina Locke, envoys with The Salvation Army, were able to get the property to Habitat for Humanity almost two years ago.
“We’re excited to be building in Warsaw again,” Logan said.
He said they’ve not only received land from the Salvation Army, but also from Bowen Health.
“I love seeing all the nonprofits working together, especially as we try to tackle housing here locally,” he said.
Ken Locke said he didn’t know how long The Salvation Army has owned the property, but it’s just been sitting there and they’ve maintained it.
“We finally just worked out a relationship with Habitat to do a build on this because let’s let this property get used,” he said. “But I don’t know how long we’ve owned it. We’ve owned it for a long time as far as I know, but I’m assuming there was a house on here that got torn down and nobody knew what to do with the property and just gave it to The Salvation Army.”
Ken said the Habitat homes will be great for the neighborhood because they just bring the neighborhood up a lot. “We just appreciate the partnership we’re able to have with Habitat because they really compliment each other. We want to see people get into affordable housing,” he said.
Sina said if it wasn’t for Ken asking The Salvation Army divisional offices if they could donate the lots, it wouldn’t have likely happened. “It was (Ken’s) idea to donate them and they approved it. But I’m so glad they approved it,” she said.
Ken said why have an empty lot that doesn’t serve a purpose? “It’s been a good thing.”
Habitat for Humanity asks for 50% of the homeowner’s sweat equity upfront, and Adams has already put in roughly 137 hours, even before the groundbreaking. Logan said Adams has been working hard to get the home going.
Adams said, “We’re beyond excited. We never would have been able to have this position or opportunity without Habitat. We’re extremely excited.”
Currently, they live in a trailer in Winona Lake. She said this is the first two years that they’ve lived on their own. Her boys are most excited that there will be a yard.
“Their biggest wish for the house was to get a trampoline,” Adams said.
The house, which will face Lyons Street, will be pretty much the same footprint as the Habitat homes built in Claypool - three bedrooms and one bathroom.
G & G Hauling & Excavating will be doing the excavating work on the property. “They’re a great partner for us to work with,” Logan stated. “They make it easy for us.”
After the excavation, there will be concrete work and then it’s hoped the home will be enclosed before winter. Logan said the outside of the home will go very quickly, with the inside work being done throughout the winter.
“We’re really excited. We’ll actually be working alongside the Warsaw High School Building Trades with this, so their students will be on site as well,” he said. “We probably would not be starting this house right now if it weren’t for that extra help that we know we would have.”
He believes the Adams’ home will be Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County’s 39th house.
“We were able to finish the Claypool homes in the spring. Mentone is underway, the drywall is being mudded right now. And then we’re breaking ground on this one, so we’ll have two active projects going on right now and we have more lined up for next year as well. So we just accepted three new families into the program. We’re excited! The houses are going up!” Logan stated.
His goal for 2025 is to break ground on three new homes and close on three homes, probably not the same three. He said next year he’s really hoping is the first year they break ground on three and close on three.
“It’s only made possible if we have the hands of the volunteers and the funds to purchase everything we need,” Logan said.
During the groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, he thanked Ken and Sina Locke and The Salvation Army for their support of Habitat. After a blessing by Ken, Logan thanked some of the build sponsors, such as G & G Hauling & Excavating, Lake City Bank, SYM Financial, NIPSCO and Kerlin Bus.
“We’re just very excited to have the generous support of this community to build this house,” Logan said.
Adams thanked all of the sponsors, the Salvation Army, Habitat for Humanity and everyone involved in the home build.
Kosciusko County Community Foundation provided a $91,200 grant for four homes, including the Mentone and the Adams homes. “It’s kind of seed funding to help us be building more homes right now,” Logan said, pointing out that the KCCF just released an affordable housing study. “So we’re working more and more with the Community Foundation to try to tackle affordable housing here in Kosciusko County, and we couldn’t be more happier with the partnership with them.”
Alex Hall, Community Foundation vice president of programs, said, “Affordable housing and housing for workforce continues to be an issue that the Community Foundation is interested in. As we all know, affordable housing is an issue that lots of people are interested in, so it’s something that we continue to research. We just released an affordable housing study today so it’s something we continue to research and find solutions for, and Habitat is a great partner to live out that mission.”
To read the complete Affordable Housing Strategies for Kosciusko County report, visit https://www.kcfoundation.org/about-us/publications.
For more information about Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County, visit kosciuskohabitat.org or follow them on Facebook (@kosciuskohabitat).