A home of their own

By Jack Kintner

Five months and seven days after breaking ground last March, Cassi Jordan and her three children moved in to their new home at 702 E Street. It’s the second Habitat for Humanity house built in Blaine in the last two years and involved a wide coalition of volunteers and donated labor and materials from contractors all over Whatcom County. Habitat finished a house at 940 Cedar Street in Blaine last year.

Jordan and daughters Mackenzie, 10, and Kelsey, 15, and son Michael, 14, moved into the house last Friday. “It’s great to have a home of our own,” said Jordan, who until moving had been living with her children at her parents’ home in Bellingham. “So this is better,” she said, “a lot better. My biggest surprise was the number of people who showed up for the dedication, probably about 75 or more.”

As the new owner, Jordan was required to contribute a minimum of 500 hours “sweat equity” helping to build the house, a goal she met and surpassed, according to Habitat for Humanity Whatcom County executive director John Shorthill.

“I don’t know anyone who starts building a new house with only $10,000 in the bank,” laughed contractor and Habitat board member Bruce Burke, referring to the bank balance Habitat had when the project started last winter, “but you know, it’s a faith step we all take together, and like the Bible story of the loaves and fishes it always works.”
The light blue 1000-plus square foot house has three bedrooms, one full bathroom and a large kitchen off a carpeted living area. The yard will be landscaped on September 11 by a volunteer crew from the Whatcom Educational Credit Union, a group that often takes on this task at Habitat houses as a one-day project.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization whose best known volunteer is former president and active Baptist layman Jimmy Carter. The local agency is called Habitat for Humanity Whatcom County and can be reached at 715-9170.