In the course of celebrating the new homes built by Habitat for Humanity of Boone County in 2015, the organization raised enough funds to construct another one.
More than 200 supporters attended the nonprofit’s annual fundraiser March 5 at the Golf Club of Indiana. Emcee Chris Malott, a pastor at Waters Edge Church, led a “build a home in an hour” auction. Guests bid on each component of a home using their cell phones, and an entire home was funded in less than an hour.
“Chris did a great job of creating excitement for everyone, so we again raised enough money to build another Habitat home this summer in one of our Boone County communities,” said Steve Furste, executive director of HHBC.
HHBC built four homes in Boone County in 2015. Three of them were built on lots on S. Meridian Street in Lebanon, where a 2013 tornado severely damaged existing houses in the area.
“We really turned a negative into a positive as the damaged homes were torn down by the city of Lebanon and Habitat was able to acquire the lots and build three new homes for very deserving Boone County families,” Furste said.
Jacy Muse-Myers, a 24-year-old single parent of a young daughter, Avery, and the guardian of two teenage siblings following the death of her parents in 2013, is now living in a new four-bedroom home with an attached garage at 2012 S. Meridian Street.
Across the street is another 2015 project, the first Habitat Veteran Build, for Sgt. Aaron Hiatt and his wife, Beth. In 2005, Aaron was deployed to Iraq, returning in December 2006.
At the fundraiser, HHBC named Dick Williams as the 2015 Volunteer of the Year.
