WARREN With just 4 months of work, house becomes family's home

Everyone involved was pleased with the finished project.
By JAYME RAMSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
WARREN -- Members of the Wright family never imagined they'd have such a cozy home so soon.
Exactly four months after Habitat for Humanity of Trumbull County started work on the Union Street home, the family attended the home's dedication ceremony Friday.
"I feel blessed by everyone that's helped," said new homeowner John Wright. "A lot of long hours and hard work went into building this home."
Now that the work is finished, John's wife, Kristina, had only one concern: How soon can they move in?
"We can't wait to move in," she said. They planned to move in Friday night or sometime during the weekend.
Before applying for Habitat for Humanity aid, the Wrights and their 11-year-old son were living with Kristina's cousin.
"We went to our minister to ask what we could do about getting our own place and he told us to try applying for Habitat," John Wright said. "He led us in the right direction and when we got notification that our application was approved, it was just such a blessing and a lot of excitement."
How work was done
The project's master craftsman, John Garland, said the project started with five workers, then expanded once two more volunteers joined the team. He added that John and Kristina helped out more than most homeowners usually do.
The volunteers tore up the siding, electrical system and the kitchen, among other things.
"We tore up all the things that we needed to tear out and started building it back up again," Garland said. "We didn't do like we normally do. We left a lot of this house intact. We just took care of the things that were bad."
Those things were a small bathroom that the volunteers were able to enlarge, plumbing work and about 80 percent of the electrical system.
The homeowners in Habitat for Humanity homes get to pick the interior color schemes and do all the designing, something Kristina said she was happy to do.
Habitat Trumbull County President George Sparacino said the money issues were already discussed.
"We got together to figure out how much they have to pay a month. All they have to pay is for materials and related costs, which is what we paid for the house. There is no interest. The interest would have added about $30,000 to the cost of the house," he said.