Habitat for Humanity dedicates home for local mother

Mar. 29—In New York, Broadway is known as a place where dreams are realized. Here in Somerset, the dream of having a home to live in was made reality on Broadway as well.

On Thursday, Habitat for Humanity of Pulaski County, Ky., officially dedicated a new home, which serves as an answer to the prayers of local woman Kayla Taylor.

"It's a huge blessing for me," said Taylor, who will soon be able to actually move in with her 9-year-old son Hunter. "I've been looking for an apartment — I think I started in February of last year — and I cannot afford anything in Somerset."

Taylor attends church at Victory Christian Fellowship, and she prayed with her fellow members there for a "safe and clean" home for her and her child. Shortly thereafter, Taylor came across a notice from Habitat for Humanity that they were accepting applications locally.

"I put my application in here and they chose me," she said. "Out of all the people, they chose me."

Taylor said the two-bedroom home perfectly fits her family's needs.

"(Hunter is) excited to have neighbors and a neighborhood," said Taylor. "Where we live now, we don't have neighbors."

Local Habitat for Humanity board member Kristi Phillips spoke to a substantial crowd who showed up outside the home on Thursday to tell them about the process. She explained that HFH offers "a hand up," so that the individual chosen to receive a home invests their own "sweat equity," their time and effort, to help build the house. Taylor herself has put in over 200 hours doing so, with help from family, friends, co-workers, and other members of the community.

"That's what it takes if we're going to change communities," said Phillips.

She added that the house was dedicated in the memory of the late United State First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who was highly active with Habitat for Humanity. Carter passed away last November at age 96, and following that, the local HFH had a door set up in the lobby of the Pulaski County Courthouse that people could sign in honor of her; that door was brought to the home dedication site on Thursday, which was attended by Pulaski County Judge-Executive Marshall Todd along with other local officials.

Phillips lauded the HFH board members for their hard work, and two volunteers in particular, Jeffrey Conard of A Step Above Flooring and Marcy Anderson, whom Phillips gave special documents of recognition. A number of businesses and community partners were also involved, in a variety of different ways, donating their goods and resources.

"When you go to start doing this, every dollar counts," said Phillips. "Our goal is to keep it affordable for the homeowner, where she can live a normal lifestyle and it doesn't put her in a position that she has to live paycheck to paycheck. Because honestly, if that's what we're going to do, there's no point in setting people up for failure."

The City of Somerset donated the property on Broadway Street in Somerset for the home to be built; "They saw the need to not let stuff sit vacant and put it back into the community," said Phillips. "That's huge."

Cumberland Furniture Outlet helped furnish the home, and businesses like ABC Supply Co., DIY Supply, Lumber King, Vision Cabinet Source, and others "stepped up ... (and) didn't just let us buy products there; they worked out a way for us to get what we needed at a cost we could afford and put it back," Phillips

Taylor works at Chick-fil-A, and that restaurant as well as Penn Station East Coast Subs donated food for those working on site to nourish themselves with, noted Phillips. She also acknowledged Mark Brown Builders for helping make the project a speedy and efficient one.

"These guys started this house on October 18; we were ready to start working on the inside in eight weeks," she said, adding that the project came in under budget.

Phillips said that Five Star Title was working on the mortgage for the house, and also recognized the Field of Honor local flag display for putting their proceeds in 2024 toward Habitat for Humanity.

Other community partners included Blugrass Realtors, Eagle Trailer Rental and Store, Somerset Mechanical, Aetna, Superior Sign Service, and Big Blue Septic Services.

Phillips announced another upcoming HFH project that will be located on Bourne Avenue in Somerset: a veterans' village. The project received approval from the City of Somerset's Planning and Zoning Committee and now needs the okay from the Somerset City Council. The build will put three cottages over two lots to house U.S. military veterans, with groundbreaking scheduled for April 11. Phillips noted that it would be named after a local veteran but left that name a mystery at this time. "For those that don't know, when you are disabled through the military, there's not a lot of options for housing," said Phillips. "... We're going to be able to put three veterans in these homes.

"Our veterans deserve better, bottom line," she added, "and this is a way we can honor them and step up and provide for them what they deserve."

The Field of Honor proceeds will be used for this purpose. Phillips also plugged a benefit concert on April 13 at the Tipsy Toad in downtown Somerset, with proceeds going to help the veterans' project as well.

Standing inside her new home, Taylor had words of praise for Habitat for Humanity and all its volunteers and partners who made the house build possible.

"They've been such a blessing to me," she said. "It's an awesome program, and they help families in need."