Henry County Habitat for Humanity partner moves into newly built home

MT. PLEASANT - Adrienne Boyd's dream of becoming a homeowner came true last Saturday when she was officially handed the keys to her newly-built 1,100 square-feet home.

Boyd, Henry County Habitat for Humanity's 27th partner, moved from Chicago to Mt. Pleasant ten years ago after Section 8 housing became available in Iowa. Boyd works at local manufacturing firm Continental, making hoses.

Since moving to Mt. Pleasant, she has been looking for an opportunity to become a homeowner, especially so her 10-year-old son, Twandre, can have a place to call home.

'He loves it. He's excited,” Boyd said. 'He wanted to move in earlier, he kept on asking to come to the house during the week. It's great because we can be more comfortable and it'll be more roomy. He's going to get his own room. It's been a long time coming but it was worth the wait.”

Twandre echoed his mother's excitement on having his own space to call his own.

'I get my own room. Fortnite stuff, that's how I'm going to decorate it,” Twandre said excitedly.

The nonprofit held a dedication at the house on Jan. 18. A group of community members, volunteers who helped build the house as well as many of the nonprofit's board members gathered to welcome the Boyds into their new home.

Lisa Diener, president of the Henry County Habitat board, said the construction of the home began last spring and was a community effort. The nonprofit aims to build one house for a family in need each year.

'We have the Mt. Pleasant prison inmates build the walls off-site. So our first day is some time in the spring. So day one, we have most of the exterior walls up. Our goal is to have the homeowner in by Christmas but due to paperwork, we weren't able to this year,” Diener said. Local businesses also pitched in to finish the house, many of whom donated meals and materials.

'She really had a heart to do it. She really wanted to partner with Habitat,” Diener said of why Boyd was chosen as a partner.

'I think [getting this house] is huge. Being able to break that cycle of poverty and being able to know that her son has a safe place to play, being able to get to know their neighbors, getting to increase the property values in the neighborhood - it's a win-win for everyone,” the board president continued.

In the process of becoming the nonprofit's partner, Boyd took classes to improve her financial health and contributed 300 hours to help build her own house. However, the new homeowner said most of the credit goes to the nonprofit and volunteers for helping to make her dream a reality.

'I'm blessed … I really just want to thank everyone, especially the volunteers. Especially Hearth and Home, they were a great help to me,” Boyd said. Boyd also said that she's incredibly thankful to her church and the assistance she got through Section 8 housing.

'Section 8 gave me some leeway,” she said.

Looking forward, Boyd is excited to have a place to call home and to be able to continue to call Mt. Pleasant her home.

'It's nice, it's quiet … the community is really beautiful, I really appreciated their help,” she said, 'I'm really looking forward to my new bed.”