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HOMEOWNERS SPEAK ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH HABITAT.

Darling Build ARCHIVE

APRIL: Breaking New Ground

Prescott, AZ (April 9, 2008) -Building on her dream of homeownershipAshley Darling and her daughter, Gwen, celebrated an important milestone March 28 in the construction of their new home.

They were honored in a groundbreaking ceremony that heralded the beginning of a multi-faceted building program to result in summer home occupancy for them.   Along with Prescott Area Habitat for Humanity representatives and Thrivent Financial members, two Lutheran pastors participated during a short program in Diamond Valley that was both heartfelt and festive.
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MARCH: Prospective Thrivent Homeowner Sings Habitat Praises

Prescott, AZ (March 3, 2008) -
Ashley Darling is a young woman on a mission. She is keen to provide her two-year old daughter, Gwen, with a safe, stable home environment, and she will accomplish this mission by mid-summer when they move into the 2008 Thrivent Builds-Prescott Area Habitat for Humanity home in Diamond Valley, AZ.

Ashley is an accomplished performance artist. Her love of the performing arts developed early in her life; she remembers singing in a junior high school talent contest with Jordan Sparks, who later became an American Idol winner. Raised in Payson and Phoenix, AZ, Ashley graduated from Chino Valley High School in 2004. She was a National Honor Society member and became skilled at playing the piano, flute, guitar, drums and trumpet.

A singer and composer, Ashley attended Prescott’s Yavapai College from 2004-2006, where she majored in voice and minored in piano and music theory. She was President of the Yavapai College Choir Club and Vice President of Leadership in Phi Theta Kappa. She played trumpet in YC’s Big Band and was on scholarship for private voice instruction. “I can sing a mean National Anthem,” she says.

The construction of the PAHH house for Cheryl Negus in Chino Valley, AZ became the incentive for Ashley to change her living situation and apply for Habitat home ownership. The house where Ashley lived (next door to the house being built for Cheryl) had a hole in the floor under the carpet in the living room, water damage in the ceiling, mold throughout, a buckling kitchen floor, unsafe front porch and steps, and no hot water in the bathroom sink.

When Ashley entered the PAHH family selection process in January 2007, she felt both hopeful that PAHH offered a hand up to people in need of decent affordable housing and discouraged by the large numbers of applicants. She was early to submit her paperwork and early to complete her initial sweat equity hours and, when she learned in early summer that she had been selected to become a PAHH homeowner, she let out a shriek of excitement and then immediately began to cry. Since that fortuitous moment, Ashley has earned 223 of the required 250 sweat equity hours towards her home ownership. She has done this by breaking up concrete with a pick ax and shovel, digging a trench line, painting the interior of a house, and helping with the siding installation, painting, and landscaping at the 2007 Thrivent Builds-PAHH house.

As a full-time Financial Services Representative with the Arizona State Credit Union in Prescott Valley, Ashley has become interested in the world of finance. Once she and Gwen are settled in their new Thrivent Builds-PAHH home, she intends to resume her college studies with a goal of earning an undergraduate double-major degree in music education and business / economics. She was recently awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Prescott Valley Soroptimists, and these funds will be used to help with living expenses while she pursues her education.

She first learned about the Thrivent Builds-PAHH project when she worked at the ’07 Thrivent-PAHH build, and she has since done online research to learn more about Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. She finds herself thinking, “Pinch me! This cannot really be happening” and says, “Words cannot even begin to express how deeply thankful I am for the individuals who make up Habitat for Humanity, the local Lutheran community, and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. I could say ‘thank you ‘a thousand times and it would still not measure up to what this home means for me and Gwennie.”

When asked what song best describes her feelings about Habitat home ownership, she responded with a verse from “Our House” by Crosby, Stills and Nash:

“Our house is a very, very, very fine house.

With two cats in the yard,

Life used to be so hard,

Now everything is easy ‘cause of you.”

With the first volunteers scheduled to be on the Thrivent Builds-PAHH job site in Diamond Valley March 29, we look forward to the summer day when we can see that the long and winding road towards home ownership has been successfully traveled by Ashley Darling. There will be a chorus waiting to say, “Welcome home!