Local family moves into Habitat home
By Kirsten Ballard
Published in News on January 29, 2015 2:05 PM
Nereida Cruz is finally home.
It's been a long journey for the mother of six.
Her eyes filled with tears as she listened to her sister and members of the community welcome her to her new house at the Habitat for Humanity's dedication ceremony Tuesday afternoon.
"She's always been wanting her own place, I am so happy for her," said Nereida's sister, Cristina Fonseca as the two embraced.
Nereida and her children attended the dedication along with builders, volunteers and city officials. Students from Wayne Country Day and Rosewood High School worked on the site and joined in the dedication.
Finally, it has come full circle.
Guests laughed as they reminisced about the building process, from Nereida building her own pantry shelves to how the students of Wayne Country Day signed the walls with neon spray paint.
Due to the heavy rains, the driveway was not paved before the dedication. The front yard was muddy and full of standing water.
Beth Rose, Habitat for Humanity drector for external relations, joked it was the first Habitat House to have a pool.
"The mud wrestling will start after the dedication," she said.
The driveway will be laid in the upcoming weeks once the yard dries out.
"This is the happiest of days," Beth said.
Nereida teaches at WAGES Head Start in Mount Olive. Before receiving her house, the family of seven lived in a three-bedroom apartment.
"If it wasn't for Habitat, this wouldn't be realistic for me. I would be living paycheck to paycheck," Nereida said.
As a Habitat homeowner, Nereida was required to volunteer 300 hours. She surpassed those expectations.
Site supervisor Ethan Sellers said she was an enthusiastic and hard worker. She spent a lot of her time on the building site with the volunteers.
"It does take a lot of people to make this come together. It is a house that will become a home," Ethan said.
He handed a smiling Nereida the keys to her house.
Danny Jackson of Jackson Builders had his crew work on the house for two days. It provided the builders a team-building opportunity.
He thanked Nereida for the chance to work on her home. "It gave us a tremendous opportunity to bring my team out and work together, side by side, shoulder to shoulder," he said.
The Rev. Jill Beimdiek of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church blessed the house. She asked that it was full of love, laughter, joy and many blessings. She encouraged the Cruz family to continue to help others achieve homeowner status.
The countdown was led by Linda Richardson, family services director.
The family cut the ribbon and the family had their first walk through of their finished house. The children raced from room to room, showing off their new bedrooms to the guests.
Walking around her house, Nereida said she was most excited for the living room.
"I love to paint and decorate, I'm going to have some fun in there," she said.