Habitat for Humanity of Cass County relaunches to build homes for the community once more with dinner event

Hallie Gallinat, Pharos-Tribune, Logansport, Ind.
·4 min read

Apr. 27—Several members of the community joined together at the Logansport Golf Club and Event Center Thursday night to celebrate the relaunch of Habitat for Humanity of Cass County.

The event saw multiple speakers, a live musical performance, food and many guests from around the community including Mayor Chris Martin and Deputy Mayor Jacob Pomasl.

Executive Director Marissa Gordon said in her speech that Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit housing organization that works across local communities in the United States and 70 countries, according to habitat.org. Their vision is one of a world where everyone has a decent place to live, and they work towards this by building strength, stability, self-reliance and partnership with families in need of affordable housing.

Habitat for Humanity of Cass County started in 1991 and worked to build homes for families in the community. Volunteer Doug Taylor, the event's first speaker, said they built ten homes up until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, when the not-for-profit nearly died.

"But there was a little spark, and I'm not sure where the spark came from exactly, two or three people thought, 'you know, we can't let this thing die,'" Taylor said in his speech. "And so, we actually brought together, called some people that we thought would be interested in relaunching Habitat of Cass County."

Throughout the night, multiple speakers involved with Habitat shared information regarding the organization and future plans, including Construction Committee Chairperson Randy Griffith and Board President Scott Jewell.

Taylor said they have been meeting for a year and are ready to build their first house since COVID-19, which will be located at 201 Park Ave. Jewell said they will be having a groundbreaking event at this house on Sunday at 2 p.m..

"This one we're doing with mostly contracted workers so it can happen quickly because we need to get up and running," Jewell said. "We needed to be able to say Habitat is here for this community and we wanted people to see that we can make a difference together."

Jewell also spoke about a grant they are planning to apply for from the USDA, called the Mutual Self-Help Technical Assistance Grant. He said it works similarly to how Habitat has built houses over the years and would provide them with funds to hire people who can focus fulltime on directing the organization. With the grant, they will be able to build four to six homes a year, he said.

"And I think that is just such a wonderful thing to see how God has been working to put these things in place that we can utilize these services, these funds so we can better our community...," Jewell said.

Cecilia Arzola, the last person Habitat built a home for before the pandemic, gave a testimony about their services. She spoke about how Habitat helped her and her three kids move into a much larger house that they helped build.

"It was a really amazing experience. I wouldn't change it because me and my kids, we learned a lot.... to have Habitat bless me that way, I remember thinking 'wow, this is amazing,'" Arzola said. "I learned how to paint, which I didn't know how [to]... I learned how to put down floor, it wasn't that bad."

The night was then concluded by Grace Scott performing the song "Gratitude" by Brandon Lake with Steve Isaacs on the guitar. Finally, pledge cards were passed around to guests, which included options to donate, volunteer or sign up for their newsletter.

"I've been waiting for this day because for me, it's not just about building a house, it's about building lives. I mean, it is amazing what I've seen and what happens through being able to give someone a new home," Griffith said in his speech. "And there's a lot of process through this. It's just not giving them a home, it gets into financing, it gets into a lot of things. And it's actually building and reaching into people's lives."

Jewell said they need more volunteers and more people to serve on the board. It does not need to be construction, as he said people with skills like fundraising and financial planning are areas they can help with. To donate or get involved with Habitat for Humanity of Cass County, visit casshabitat.org. Jewell said they are working on having donations be sent through their website, but donations still can be sent by mail with the address on their website.