In a way my story is like everybody else’s. It’s a dream come true. Everybody wants to buy a house for their family.

We were looking for a new place to live because things were getting rough in our apartment complex. I told my wife that I was going to check into Habitat for Humanity.

We were both a little doubtful about receiving a house, but, when we found out that we qualified financially, our doubt started fading away.

On month after our “In Home” interview, we got the best news that we have ever heard in our lives: we got a call and a letter in the mail stating that we would become Habitat for Humanity homeowners.

Nikki, my wife, called me with the news while I was working, driving a truck for Carondelet Health Network. I had to pull over and get out of the truck because I was going crazy happy. I was acting like I just won the lottery. People looked at me like I was nuts but I didn’t care what they thought. I was going to be a homeowner and not a renter.

When I got back to the warehouse I told everybody what happened and I got the greatest response.

Our house was a Building Freedom Day house started in 2008. After eight months of hard work and hundreds of hours of “sweat equity,” the house was complete and we got to cut the ribbon on June 5th 2009.

That was on top of our list of greatest things to ever happen to our family.

I still help build houses for Habitat when I get the chance. Every Building Freedom Day I come out and am a crew leader.  It is a lot of fun and rewarding for the families I help.

Now I am a member of Habitat’s Board of Directors.  Habitat has helped my family made our dreams come true. I will do what I can to help Habitat and other families do the same. There is no better feeling then having a quality built-home for your family.

By Tony Helm, Habitat Homeowner and Board Member