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July
2008 - Yvonne La Fon, her son Travis (age 11) and grandson Devon
(age 4) can’t
wait to move into their new Habitat home. Currently, they live
in a small old cabin. The living room is Travis’s bedroom,
and the old sun porch is their living room with barely enough room for
a couch and TV. Travis doesn’t like to have his friends over because
of the awkward set- up, but he will when they move into their new Habitat
house and he will have his own bedroom. Yvonne says the cabin has no
interior doors and no one has any privacy. The cabin only has one
door to the outside and she hangs a ladder from the 2nd floor in case
of fire.
She lost a grandchild to a fire and is very worried about
the lack of access to the outside in her current home, as well as the
faulty wiring. Yvonne worked as a waitress at Stroh’s Restaurant
for 14 years until it closed this year. She was recently in a severe
car accident that damaged her knees and put her out of work for 7 months. She
is till in a lot of pain and won’t be able to work again as a waitress
as her knees will not fully heal. However, Yvonne is very talented and
resourceful and she is now cleaning houses and has regular customers
doing seamstress work. She also makes jewelry and paints murals on walls
and on furniture. In fact, she has promised Travis she will
paint a mural of a stream in his room as he wants to be a fishing guide
when he grows up, and she will paint trains on the walls in Devon’s
room.
Yvonne tears up when asked about how she feels about Habitat and the
people who are helping to make her life better. “Travis asked me why
I’m always smiling, and I say it’s because I just can’t
help it. I’m so happy and so excited about our new home. I am so
grateful.” Yvonne’s home will be built by five local
builders as part of the Habitat Home Builders Blitz. The home will
be built in just 11 days from September 5th through the 13th. The
builders are; Brittany Builders, Inc., Triad Builders, Ades Design Builders,
Cassidy, Inc., and Timon Development Corporation.
March 2008 - Blue
Spruce Habitat for Humanity is proud to introduce Pam Matheson. Pam
will be living at Early Morn Lane in Evergreen, which is slated to begin
in April. Pam has been a hard worker her entire life. She cooked
in restaurants for 25 years, and owned a small BBQ shop in Texas before
moving to Colorado.
Life has been very challenging for Pam for the last few years due to numerous
health problems that have kept her from her typical hardworking lifestyle. She
is in chronic pain from osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. She’s
endured multiple surgeries and joint replacements. Pam can’t
stand up for more than 10 minutes at a time, and knows she will eventually
be in a wheelchair full time.
Pam came to Colorado to be closer to her grown children and her grandchildren. Her
sister has since moved here as well. She currently lives with her
sister as she is unable to find affordable housing that allows her to be
near her family and a good friend who helps take care of her. Pam
is very involved with her grandchildren, particularly her one grandson
who is deaf and spends a lot of time with her.
Pam has been very concerned about her future and is thrilled to know she
will own a home and will have an affordable mortgage payment. She
says the knowledge of owning a home soon has helped her get through some
tough times lately. She looks forward to having stability and independence.
Pam has put in sweat equity hours at the former Resale Emporium, and at
the construction site. She’s enjoying giving back to Habitat
and also knows it’s good for her to be out of her wheelchair as much
as possible.
Pam says, “Habitat is a wonderful organization. The volunteers
are terrific. I am amazed and really happy. This is making my life
so much better”.
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December
2007 - This
year the holidays will be extra special to Padma Thornlyre and his daughter
Circee. Thanks to Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity, they will finally
have a decent, affordable, and permanent home in which to celebrate.
As a single dad, Padma’s priority is to provide stability and a
good home for Circee, an engaging 3rd grader with an amazing talent in
art.
Stability has been elusive for the two of them. They have moved
often and currently live in an inadequate one bedroom cabin. “It’s
been a struggle,” says Padma. He wants something better for Circee. “I
grew up a bit of a gypsy, and I don’t want that for Circee. I
want her to be a part of this wonderful community. It’s important
to me that she have a stable home so she can thrive in school and have
long-term friends and relationships.”
Padmas and Circee’s home is under
construction in Kittredge. Padma is putting in 250 hours of sweat-equity
labor into building his home as required by the Habitat program, in addition
to working as a waiter and writing and publishing poetry. “It’s
humbling to work alongside so many generous volunteers. It’s a
gift to know people of such fine character, and to be part of Habitat’s
homeownership program.” Padma and Circee look forward to
another gift - the gift of home that will be theirs this holiday season.
Circee is already drawing pictures of her new home, and describing
how she is going to decorate her room. She also has plans for a
unique part of the house – the space under the stairs. In
a child’s eye, especially one as imaginative and creative as Circee,
this will be a very special place indeed. Circee has plans to decorate
it and make it her own “secret playhouse”. She looks
forward to sharing it with Jordon, who will be moving next door in the
other Habitat home. The two are the same age and have already become
fast friends. Padma’s dream of having a home for Circee
in which she can grow, thrive, and make lasting friendship is already
unfolding.
Padma has worked hard for his Habitat home and will purchase his home
with a no-interest mortgage. He and Circee look forward to the
day very soon that they can cut the big red ribbon on the front door
during their dedication ceremony and say “We’re home!” Finally
they will have stability, hope, and freedom to build holiday traditions
in a warm, wonderful home built with the love and effort of hundreds
of caring volunteers.
Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity has built 21 homes in our mountain
community and with your help, will build 5 more in 2008.
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©2000 - 2008
Blue Spruce Habitat for Humanity - All Rights Reserved
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