Home sweet home

Audrey Silver and her son Reginald are shown beside their new home on Hopes Acre Drive in a subdivision developed by Habitat for Humanity of Cherokee County. A dedication ceremony was held Sunday afternoon for five homes that opened in the city's newest neighborhood. Audrey Silver always wanted a home with a spacious back yard and her own parking spot.

Silver and her son Reginald saw this dream come true in August when they were allowed to move into a home on the new street, Hope Acres Drive. It was one of five houses dedicated Sunday afternoon by Habitat for Humanity in a neighborhood called Hope Acres.

The Gaffney neighborhood features 22 houses built by Habitat for Humanity by home owners, church volunteers, civic groups and workers from local industries. Cherokee Technology Center carpentry students have worked on the homes as an education project under teacher Johnny Breitenbach since 2001.

The City of Gaffney received a $375,000 infrastructure grant to provide a paved street, sidewalks, water and sewer service to the newer homes in the subdivision.

The foundation has been poured for two Habitat for Humanity houses currently being built directly across from where the Silvers live. It wasn't too long ago the family was investing their own labor into helping volunteers paint and finish their home.

Audrey Silver works fulltime at Nestle while raising her son. Reginald is a ninth grader at Gaffney High. For the past year, she has spent all her free time working on homes with Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

"My mom started looking at Habitat for Humanity for me a couple of years ago. She felt this would give me a good chance of being able to own a home while I was still young," Silver said. "All the houses were pretty much already built when I started. I did some painting and worked on the interior of a few other houses when I had any free time. It's just been a blessing for me."

Reginald Silver spent Sunday afternoon lounging around on the couch watching an NFL football game before he tackled his homework. He would occasionally walk over to the door and peek outside at the visitors gathered to dedicate the Habitat houses in his neighborhood.

"This is great," said Reginald Silver, about living in the house. "Unbelievable."

This is exactly the reaction local resident Oscar Fuller envisioned when he helped Habitat for Humanity of Cherokee County acquire the Sarratt Street property in 1999.

"I could visualize this land being a perfect place for a Habitat for Humanity village," Fuller said. "This has met a great need in our community by providing an affordable way for people to own their own homes."

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing ministry that works to build and provide decent affordable housing to families who qualify. Purchasers of the homes enjoy low monthly payments with no interest mortgages.

Habitat for Humanity plans to complete four additional houses by 2010, executive director Christa Smith said.

"We still need contributions to provide materials for the current new homes being built, which cost about $62,000 each," Smith said. "We will need volunteers to spend time on the work site."

A few hours volunteering will allow another family to share the experience that new home owner Eva Brewton has enjoyed this summer.

After her application was approved in late 2006, Brewton worked in the Habitat for Humanity thrift store for several months before her family could help finish their new home. She sat on a porch with relatives Sunday afternoon while she watched community members walk around the neighborhood.

"This is a dream come true. I'm so happy to have a home," Brewton said. "I have always wanted a home of my own."