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Work starts on newest 'Habitat' home

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By Mary Louise Speer | Saturday, September 22, 2007 11:11 PM CDT | () comments

The sounds of hammering rang out Saturday morning as work progressed on three new houses at Habitat Park subdivision in Rock Island.

Angela Brewer proudly held her own hammer, presented to her during a Saturday groundbreaking for the home she will share with daughter, Shavonne Brewer, 12. When completed, the three-bedroom house will have all the trimmings, including a basketball hoop.

“I’ve always rented and I always wanted to own my own home,” Angela said.

“Thank you, Habitat, for choosing us to get a house,” Shavonne said. She is excited about having a basketball hoop to practice her game and one day join a local school team.

Their 1,092-square-foot home is the fifth to be constructed in Habitat Park and is the 53rd Habitat house constructed in the Quad-Cities. Most of the money for funding the Brewer’s residence was raised by Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church youth group and Wells Fargo.

The Alcoa Foundation, Rock Island Community Foundation and Augustana College’s Habitat Chapter are the other partners on the build.

Last June, 96 students and 12 adults discovered it required a heck of a lot of water and soap to raise about $20,000 during an all-day car wash at two Davenport Hy-Vee locations.

“This year we washed 506 cars and $18,000 is what we have raised so far,” said Stephanie Haas, a senior at Assumption High School. “I was very tired after that long, long day.”

The teenagers are still trying to collect the remaining $2,000 from this year’s event. Last year the youth group washed 372 cars and raised about $15,000 for Habitat for Humanity — Quad-Cities

Unfortunately youth organizer Sam Wagner was unable to be present at Saturday’s ground breaking, Stephanie said. Initially “when Sam started talking about this car wash and raising $30,000, we thought he was insane,” she quipped.

Now hundreds of gallons of water later, they wholeheartedly share the vision — and want to see it continue. Most of the youth organizers are seniors in high school. Their goal is to get younger students involved in leadership positions, so the car wash will continue and more families will receive homes, she said.

The Augustana students are a group of supporters who raise money and annually give up their spring break tans for hammers. Site/construction supervisors Judy and Ed Connelly of Bettendorf are grateful for all of the volunteers who wake up early on Saturday mornings to help out.

“These kids could be doing anything, even studying, but they are here by 8 a.m., Saturday, and they work all day,” said Judy Connelly.

The house is expected to be completed by May and the work accomplished to date includes pouring the foundation and setting up the floor joists. The decking is next, she said.

Girls from Bettendorf Girl Scout Troop 8175 will assist with serving lunch and with landscaping the house, said troop leader Betsy Vanausdeln.

Jadwin Woodall, 10, thinks the coolest part will be the landscaping next spring.

“Each girl is going to make her own (flower) pot and we’re going to put the pots around the house,” agreed Kasey Vanausdeln, 10.

Cost of building home: $71,000

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing organization and this year they have seven builds occurring. The average cost of a house is $71,000, said Kristi Crafton, executive director for Habitat Q-C.

The land for the seven sites in Habitat Park was donated by the city of Rock Island.

The city desk can be contacted at

(563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.

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