Habitat building 2 homes in Palmyra
Habitat for Humanity broke ground Thursday evening for two homes in Palmyra.
Concrete footers have already been poured for homes on Avery Street for Macey Zink of Corydon and her children, Zachary, 17, and Jesse, 14, and her partner of eight years, Charles Fowler, and Johnathan and Tonya Norskov of Elizabeth and their two children, Hannah, 4, and Sarah, 2.
Volunteers are needed to help build the two homes. Several churches have already indicated they will be sending teams to help out with specific jobs, said Habitat president Bill Harrod.
Habitat for Humanity and its army of volunteers, contributors and homeowners have already built two homes in Corydon. Habitat has bought two more lots in Corydon and has an option on a lot in Laconia, Harrod said. ‘It’s a slow process, but we want to spread it all over Harrison County.’
Habitat was organized in Harrison County in 2003.
The groundbreaking ceremony Thursday night was partly a religious service with scripture readings by Zink and Norskov, prayer and responsive readings by Harrod and two ministers, Brother Paul Garriott and Brother Herman Brown. No one brought the traditional gold ground-breaking shovel, so Habitat board member Charlie Crawford borrowed one from a neighbor.
Macey Zink, 38, is a domestic violence survivor. She was shot by a man in 1996 and is paralyzed from the waist down. She works for Advantage Transportation, a brokerage firm, in New Albany, and is working on a bachelor’s degree in social science at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany. She aims to earn a Ph.D. and become a psychologist specializing in domestic violence.
Her parents, Marvin (Gene) and Barbara Hedgespeth of Georgetown, attended the groundbreaking.
Norskov, 29, is a forklift operator and inventory quality control worker for TMSI at the Clark Maritime Center outside Jeffersonville. Tonya, 35, is a stay-at-home mom.
The two homes, which will cost about $80,000, were made possible by Habitat through fund-raising, roadblocks, contributions and downpayments from other homes. The Harrison County Community Foundation donated $40,000. The Town Board of Palmyra was present at the ceremony. President Jenny Kirkham, George Morgan and Joe Robbeloth and secretary-treasurer Virginia Dale have supported the project from the beginning through infrastructure assistance.
Road and water maintenance superintendent Randy Trett donated backhoe work on his own time. E.C. Birkla donated the concrete work, and Jim Schilmiller was going to start laying block last Saturday. Brian Whittaker of M and W will do the plumbing. Jacobi Sales next door donated a truck with cabinets and shelves for use during construction and keeps the building site clean.
Habitat directors also work on the homes in the evenings and weekends, as do the new homeowners.
The roofs may go up in late August or September, depending on the schedule of the crew from Lincoln Hills Christian Church, which volunteered to do the roofwork, Harrod said. The homes should be ready for occupancy about six months after the roofs go on.
Habitat needs volunteers, Harrod said. ‘You don’t have to be able to drive a nail. There are lots of other things you can do.’ Ian Thompson is in charge of the volunteers.
Members of the Habitat board beside Harrod, Crawford and Thompson are Marty Bachman, Elizabeth Cato, Sharon Hinkle, Karolyn Mangeot, Shirley Raymond, the Rev. Betty Sieberns and Carl Snyder.
Mark and Patty Gregory are creating a Web site (www.habitatharrison.com) so visitors can check updates on the house construction.
To volunteer, call 732-4336 or 738-8143.
