SEARSPORT— Habitat for Humanity of Waldo County celebrated the completion of its fourth build, a home located in Searsport, with a dedication ceremony and ribbon cutting Oct. 2.

The future residents of the home, Brandi Brown and daughters Dilyla and Dayzi, were on hand to thank the gathered crowd of volunteers and supporters, and to celebrate their new house.

The build began July 10, with an array of community members and volunteers offering their expertise and time to the project, which took less than three months to complete.  

Brown was at the build site nearly every day, putting in a full day’s work there before continuing on to her actual full time job. She said although she is unsure of the exact date they plan to move in, she anticipates it will likely be mid-October, when the finishing touches on the house are complete.

Brown also learned a wide variety of skills while working on her home, including basic framing, walls, insulation, and many of the other abilities required to build a home.

A handful of speakers gathered in the mild weather to participate in the dedication ceremony, which included gifts and well wishes.

The dedication began with a prayer, before a representative for Senator Susan Collins read a prepared statement.

Meg Klingelhofer, Habitat for Humanity of Waldo County’s (HFHWC) executive director, was next to address the crowd, taking time to celebrate Brown and the numerous volunteers required to pull off such a feat. Klingelhofer specifically singled out board member Jenness Robbins, who has served as construction manager on every one of HFHWC’s four builds.

Robbins, who is also the construction committee chair, was presented with a brick from Klingelhofer’s favorite building.

“I want to give this to you as a symbol of the foundation that you built for this organization to be able to continue successfully with its build program, and for what you built,” she said.

Robbins spoke next, characterizing the build as the best one yet and thanking longtime volunteer Rick Gatewood, who Robbins said spent more time at the build site than anybody.

Senator Mike Thibodeau also brought well wishes to the family, along with three pink shovels in preparation of winter.

“We live in a crazy world, sometimes we see the worst of humanity on display, but tonight we see the best of humanity on display. We see what really makes Maine a very special place where we want nothing more than a young family to be successful. I want to thank each and every person that was involved in this project, you really are what makes this community a special place to live,” Thibodeau said in part.

After a second prayer, Reverend Joe Krueger, of First Church in Belfast, offered three symbolic gifts to the family.

“We have three items here and they represent a wish for you,” he said. “First bread, [so] this house may never know hunger. Salt, [so] that life may always have flavor.”

Though the third gift is generally wine, “we’ve got sparkling grape juice, [so] that joy and prosperity may reign forever,” he said.

Also present at the event was Leslie Thomas, who saw the impending demolition of her own home as an opportunity to help others.

Thomas said she simply had too much house, which led to the decision to tear down the existing structure to make room for a new, smaller home. It also led to an idea that raised over $7,000 for the Searsport Habitat build.

“I thought, why put this in a landfill,” she said of the soon-to-be demolished home’s contents.

“So I called Meg at Habitat and said do you want the house, basically. They took everything out they could sell or salvage and then tore the house down,” she said of the process. It’s an idea that both she and Klingelhofer hope will take off.

Anytime a house is being demolished there is often an opportunity to salvage many of the contents, something that could help future homeowners and HFHWC on future builds.

For anyone who has a demolition planned, Thomas advises to call Habitat, allowing them to first come into the home and see what they can save.

As for seeing the results of her idea and efforts, Thomas said it’s been rewarding.

“It’s great. [HFHWC] was great to work with and I met so many nice people. It made me feel good that so much of it didn’t end up in a landfill, it was sold to Mainers who could afford and use it. It all got used,” she said with a smile.

With another successful build under their belt and an ever growing list of volunteers and supporters, HFHWC will soon start yet another endeavor, though Klingelhofer is unsure when the group’s next home will be built.

Instead Habitat may look into making Thomas’ charitable idea into something more common among community members, with the aid of a brick and mortar store where goods could be donated and purchased.

While their next step has yet to be decided, one thing is for sure: Waldo County residents will benefit regardless.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com