present recently: A new house, with the help of Habitat for Humanity of Knox County, Ohio, Inc..
Wise, who has three grown children and three grandchildren living in their own homes, shares her new house with her youngest children, daughters April Langston, 17, and Taylor Thomas, 9.
ldquo;I had never even heard of Habitat for Humanity, rdquo; said Wise, ldquo;but a girl at work was talking about it. Where I was living wasn rsquo;t a very good place to live. rdquo;
She didn rsquo;t have much hope of being selected for a new habitat house.
ldquo;But I told myself it won rsquo;t happen unless you try, so I sent in the application, rdquo; she said. ldquo;But I couldn rsquo;t get my hopes up. rdquo;
An interview and a home visit followed, then one day Dan Hansen of habitat called with good news: Wise had been selected for a new home.
ldquo;I was crying and crying, rdquo; she said. Taylor asked why. ldquo;I had to explain that people cry when they are happy sometimes.
rdquo;
construction stages accomplished quickly.
sure it was real, rdquo; said Wise.
The completed house, on Prospect Avenue, sets high on a rise and overlooks west Mount Vernon.
It has three bedrooms, plenty of closets, a front porch, basement, garage, two bathrooms and a large, bright kitchen. The open floor plan essentially makes kitchen, dining room and living room one large, open space for easy conversation while mom cooks dinner and the girls watch television. All habitat houses are furnished with stove, refrigerator, washer and dryer, microwave and garbage disposal donated by manufacturers, organizations and individuals.
her very own bedroom the most exciting parts of the house.
ldquo;In my previous house, the washer and dryer were in the bathroom, and I never ever got to get ready for work by myself. This is 110 percent nicer than my former house.
And it rsquo;s close to the library where I spend a lot of time, rdquo; she said.
Licensed Practical Nursing program, from which she plans to graduate in September 2007. She said she averages a B+ grade in all her classes.
ldquo;KCCC had started a new program, rdquo; Wise recalled. ldquo;I always wanted to go but always had to work and raise these two, rdquo; indicating her daughters. ldquo;Now things are getting better.
I want to get the feel of being a nurse, then maybe I could go on [to be a registered nurse]. The Eastern Star Home has been great. They work with my schedule and they rsquo;re very flexible and understanding.
ldquo;Being in school part time has been really hard. I rsquo;ve been out of school for 30 years, so I was worried. I have to get up sometimes at 4 a.
m. to study because sometimes at night I rsquo;m just too tired. But I rsquo;m a morning person and the girls are old enough to help with the chores.
Taylor goes to The That really helps me out. rdquo;
April works at Jake rsquo;s Restaurant as a hostess, is studying cosmetology and hopes to work in a salon when she graduates.
At the Oct.
28 habitat dedication of Wise rsquo;s new home, she was aglow with excitement and decorating plans. She led visitors on tours of each room, explaining its use and her plans to decorate with American flags, apples and sunflowers.
As habitat mandates, Wise put at least 250 hours of sweat equity into the house rsquo;s construction.
She works every other weekend at OES so she helped paint, install roofing, siding insulation and more in the evenings and on every other Saturday for eight months.
tears, rdquo; said Beth Hansen, director of the local habitat and Wise rsquo;s sponsor. ldquo;The whole thing has been a learning process for her.
But she rsquo;s not a great painter. rdquo;
ldquo;But I did it, rdquo; said Wise. ldquo;My grandkids are excited because I haven rsquo;t been able to have them over to spend the night.
There rsquo;s room here for a lot of grandkids.
ldquo;When I get out of nursing school, rdquo; she said, ldquo;I rsquo;m going to continue to volunteer with habitat. I just think it rsquo;s the greatest thing.
I finally feel like I have a home.
News RSS