The second local marathon home build for families below the poverty line not only provided a home for a Muncie family, but it also helped replace a piece of the life that a local resident lost two years ago.
Habitat for Humanity kicked off an eight-day blitz build on Centennial Avenue July 23 to replace the childhood home of Betty Kirtz.
"Betty applied to receive a Habitat for Humanity home and, of course, she had a very unique story," Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Barbara Hubbard said, referring to the original home that was completely destroyed two years ago in a fire that took Kirtz's mother's life.
"I was raised with my two sisters and my brother on that lot. It has memories," Kirtz said. "Our house was the main house where all the main gatherings were.
"The fire was so bad, we couldn't identify what was what. The only thing left was the mailbox."
Along with Kirtz, who was required as part of the program to put in 250 hours of sweat equity on Habitat for Humanity projects, more than 175 volunteers put in more than 2,000 man hours building the home from the ground up -- in temperatures that reached into the triple digits.
"I'm sure we had 50 volunteers putting up walls and so on over the first weekend, same on Monday," Hubbard said. "Because of the heat, we have insisted that the workers take a break at least once or twice but they won't do it -- it's almost like they're too enthusiastic."
Kirtz and her family of three daughters and two grandchildren began moving into the home on July 31, after a brief dedication ceremony.
"It feels good. When I stand in the yard and water the flowers and the grass, it seems like a dream," Kirtz said. "I can't believe that I have a home on the lot where I was raised."
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