New Habitat for Humanity family receives the Christmas gift of home

now officially upon us—with a vengeance—the timing couldn’t be better for the official dedication of Habitat for Humanity’s most recent local project.
The dedication of the Mantorville home to the VanEvery family will take place Saturday, Dec. 17, with a public open house at 705 Blanch St., beginning at 2 p.m. For the VanEvery family of eight, the timing couldn’t have come at a more exciting and festive time of year, although technically they won’t officially move in until Jan. 3.
“This has been one of the hardest years of our lives, but it’s also been one of the best,” said Cassie VanEvery, standing in the kitchen of the five bedroom, two bathroom, split-level home now in the final stages of completion. “It’s been a challenge putting in all the necessary work while finding people to watch our kids so we could see this completed on time.”
It’s been a Habitat for Humanity project that for the VanEvery family started back when they first embarked on the application process in June of 2015. They were approved for Habitat criteria on Feb. 6, 2016, and the project broke first ground the following April.
That criteria weighed the overall family needs, their ability to pay/income, and their willing to partner with the project—each adult is required to put in 200 labor hours. As a family of eight, with six children, ranging