MENTONE - Home is where the heart is, and now Kimber Boyd, her four daughters and her mother Patty have their hearts in Mentone.
The dedication for their Habitat for Humanity home in Mentone started Friday evening at the Mentone Community Emergency Services Building due to the cold outside, followed by tours of the residence at 401 N. Franklin St.
The groundbreaking took place back at the end of May 2024. A panel build with Wildman - a lead sponsor and where Kimber works - took place in July, with a Women Build in August.
“We built all the way through the fall. Hit a few snags. It’s not a construction timeline if things don’t get pushed back, but we’re really happy to move them in today,” said Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County Executive Director Ben Logan in an interview before the dedication.
For the build, there were 237 volunteers, 1,341 volunteer hours and 124 donors.
“A lot of people, a lot of hands and funds came together to make this happen,” Logan stated.

    Wildman Director of Dream Management Audrey Russell (R) speaks about Kimber Boyd (L), Habitat for Humanity and the community during the dedication ceremony for Boyd’s Habitat home in Mentone Friday. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

The home features four bedrooms, two bathrooms and is approximately 1,350 square feet over a crawl space. There’s a shed but no garage.
The dedication ceremony was standing-room only.
“We’re so excited to be here today to celebrate the dedication of our latest home here in Mentone for Kimber, Patty and the girls. We’re so excited,’ Logan said in his welcoming remarks.
Jeremy Jones, from Sweetwater Assembly in North Manchester where the Boyds attend, gave the blessing of the home. Logan thanked the companies, foundations, churches and everyone who was able to make the home possible, including Creighton Brothers, Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Wildman, G & G Hauling, Kuert Concrete Inc., Cable Bullet and Kerlin Bus Sales & Leasing.
Creighton Brothers Charitable Fund, a donor advised fund at the Community Foundation, provided the largest individual gift back in May toward the building of the home of $30,000.
Audrey Russell, Wildman director of dream management, said, “I get the privilege of helping to navigate our employees through some difficult times and through some amazing times like what we’re doing with Kimber here tonight. This has been a journey and one of the things I get to do is I get to dream with our employees, and we get to talk about what their future can look like.”
She said when she was appointed that job, one of the dreams that she had was to some day partner with Habitat for Humanity so Wildman employees would get to help someone build a home.
“Kimber was one of my first dreamers in the program and has made that possible,” Russell said. “Kimber, I have been amazed. Amazed at the community you have surrounded yourself with. When I look at the people here in this room, and I look at and I see where you come from, I am just so proud of what you have done and I am just so honored to be a part of that with you. And Wildman is honored.”
She said the Wildman team members were excited on the day of the panel build.
“It was just unbelieveable to see the love and the care,” Russell said, noting that team members also were going to help the Boyds move into the home on Saturday. “And it’s because Kimber is not afraid to ask, and that is a big part of what builds community, is when you ask for the help that you need and she has done that. Habitat for Humanity is such a blessing in this community, and we all just need to wrap our arms around you guys, and I’m excited to see the things that God is preparing for Habitat for Humanity, as well.”
Logan then presented the keys to the house to Kimber.

    Creighton Brothers Charitable Fund, a donor advised fund at the Kosciusko County Community Foundation, provided the largest individual gift back in May toward the building of the Boyd’s Habitat for Humanity home of $30,000. Pictured (L to R) presenting the check Friday in front of the Boyd’s home in Mentone are Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Ben Logan and Creighton Brothers President Mindy Truex. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union
  

“Habitat is not an easy program. It is not. A lot of life happens when Kimber has to do 250 hours of sweat equity on site, in our store, with our events. Financial literacy. She’s meeting with us constantly. She’s trying to learn everything she can about home ownership before she signs the documents,” Logan said. “Kimber, I just want to say, on behalf of Habitat, our board of directors, our staff, how proud we are of what you’ve been able to do. We do not give away houses, but I can definitely say you have earned this house, and that is way different and we are so proud to be able to see your family just blossoming now. We hope this is a real blessing to you for decades to come. Thank you for all your hard work.”
Along with the keys, he presented a Bible for each member of the Boyd family, donated by Warsaw Community Church, and a Christmas ornament.
“It’s not been an easy year for our family by all means. We’ve had a lot of personal obstacles, lots of personal challenges,” Kimber said. “... And just to see everybody come together at my work, and just all the people from my church, and all the surrounding love, has been amazing.”
The home-building process has been hard, but fun, she said, and her family plans to continue to volunteer with Habitat.
David Allbritten, the family mentor for the Boyds, gave the closing prayer.
Tim and Jackie Croy donated the land for the Boyd home and for the future home next to it.
“We love it. We love it,” Tim said of the home at Friday’s dedication. “It really makes you feel good to be able to give back to the community. We donated the lot to the north of this, which they’re going to come back, so now we’re waiting for house number two.”
In 2024, Habitat closed on two homes in Claypool and broke ground on the Boyd home in Mentone and another home in Warsaw. “We’re finishing this one, we’re going to finish that one in Warsaw and we have two other homes that we’re hoping to get to this year,” Logan said in the earlier interview.
Habitat for Humanity does have land for a second house in Mentone, which is one of the homes they’re hoping to get to this year. Logan said they do have a family lining up for that home that will be next door to the Boyds, but the work on that hasn’t started yet.
“We need more housing, it’s as simple as that, and people are looking to Habitat as a solution, so I’m just grateful that we live in a generous community and they’re really coming through,” he said.
Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County’s goal is to get to where they’re building three homes and closing on three homes annually.
“I think there is more opportunity, both for new construction and we’re also exploring some new programs that we’ll be announcing with more details soon,” he hinted at, with some help with some recent funding from the Kosciusko County Community Foundation. “We’re going to be exploring some new programs and we’re staffing up for that right now.”
Asked if there was any town in the county where there isn’t a Habitat for Humanity home, Logan wasn’t sure but guessed maybe some of the outlying towns like Sidney or Burket.
“We’re always trying to get to the north side of the county. We have the hardest time finding land in Leesburg, Milford and Syracuse,” he said. “So I always encourage people, if they know of land that is able to be donated or even bought, we can buy land as well, we want to be building up in that area, but we can’t until we have land.”
For more information about Habitat for Humanity of Kosciusko County, visit the website at kosciuskohabitat.org/.