Habitat fills in the missing pieces on Dallas street

Volunteers build homes that developer was unable to finish

By Kim Horner

Boy Scout Troop 1077 was one of the groups that ptiched in during the nine-day building blitz on Pinebrook Drive in Dallas. Scouts installed a mailbox at a home Saturday.

The residents of Pinebrook Drive just watched their neighborhood go through a makeover.

And it took only nine days.

On Saturday, Habitat for Humanity volunteers finished building 22 new three-bedroom homes there on the short street near Bonnie View and Simpson Stuart roads on lots that had stood vacant for years.

Hundreds of volunteers planted flowers, installed mailboxes and put the last bricks on the attractive homes with front porches Saturday.

A developer ran out of money to finish building homes on Pinebrook Drive a few years ago. That left gaps of missing houses. Toney Lemons, who has lived on the street since 1974, said he didn't mind all the construction work and traffic - which police came to direct at times - since it was for a good cause.

"Everybody needs somewhere to stay," Mr. Lemons said, adding that he'll be happy as long as his new neighbors take good care of their properties like he does.

Nora Hernandez, who will move in down the street, was so excited about her new place she couldn't eat the lunch provided for volunteers on Saturday.

"It's perfect," she said of the home. "It's beautiful."

The 31-year-old single mother will move her three young children from a cramped one-bedroom Arlington apartment to her new three-bedroom home in July.

Ms. Hernandez, who works as a packer in a Grand Prairie plastics factory, said she's thrilled to become a homeowner. She had looked into buying a house before but found she could not afford one.

"It's a big opportunity for families like mine," she said. Ms. Hernandez said she her mortgage will be slightly less than her rent of $485 a month. Her children, ages 8, 7 and 2, will be able to have separate bedrooms for the first time, she said.

Ms. Hernandez said she learned about the program from her friend and co-worker, Juanita Acosta. Ms. Hernandez told Ms. Acosta that she was hosting a birthday party at her house for one of her children.

"I said, 'Where?' " said Ms. Acosta, who couldn't imagine her friend had enough room to host the celebration.

Now that Ms. Hernandez knows about Habitat for Humanity, she said she wants to return the favor by spreading the word about the program to others who may not realize they can apply.

Ms. Acosta, who lives in a Pleasant Grove house built by Habitat for Humanity, took a week's vacation to help build her friend's home. The two friends have been putting up walls, painting and sweeping as part of the "sweat equity" homeowners must contribute in exchange for no-interest, $60,000 mortgages.

In all, about 3,500 volunteers pitched in during the building blitz. They came from 20 churches, 11 businesses and other organizations, including 300 AmeriCorps volunteers who traveled from throughout the nation.

Ronald Denham of Victoria, Texas, was one of the workers from AmeriCorps, which gives participants a small living allowance in exchange for community service.

"I believe there's a need and I'd wanted to do this for years," said Mr. Denham, 67, a retired court reporter.

Volunteers from Dallas-based Home Interiors and Gifts put a finishing touch of a wreath on each house on Saturday. The company sponsored one of five homes built by all-women crews as part of Habitat for Humanity's Women Build program.

"The home is a haven," said Carol Eichinger, the company's director of communications, who worked on the house. "But first you have to have a house to decorate."

Filling in 22 empty lots with new houses turned Pinebrook Drive into a whole new place for current and incoming residents, said Fred Hoster, director of development for Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity. Habitat built 19 homes on the street more than two years ago, so now the nonprofit organization has built a majority of the homes there.

Mr. Hoster said he expects private for-profit homebuilders will expand on what Habitat started in that area. Then, he said, he hopes new stores and restaurants will follow in the neighborhood that lacks many retail businesses. Mr. Hoster said he's confident the surrounding area will have a new look in a few years.

"We build neighborhoods," he said. "All the neighbors already know each other because they've worked on each others' houses."