NEW GLARUS - Construction on a New Glarus residence for a single father of four will begin next week at Green County Habitat for Humanity's 23rd build project.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new project will take place at 4:30 p.m. Sunday and will be attended by dignitaries including state Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and state Rep. Sondy Pope (D-Mount Horeb), said longtime Habitat volunteer Carol Holmes.
Holmes said Habitat will unveil the design plans for the home at the ceremony, and some of the dignitaries will deliver speeches about the need for affordable housing.
The residence is the first Habitat for Humanity project to be built in New Glarus in the 23 years the organization has existed, said Helen Capellaro of Habitat's communications committee.
"There's no political reason for that or anything," Capellaro said. "Choices were made to put builds in other towns, that's all."
The build site, located at 100 First Ave., is on the former site of an empty residence that was demolished to make way for the new project, Capellaro said. The project is expected to be functionally complete in early 2018, although some interior work will likely still need to be finished when the tenants move in.
The tenants in this case are the Grunewald family - Greg and his four children.
Grunewald currently lives in a New Glarus apartment with his children - 12-year-old Erika, 7-year-old Zachary, 6-year-old Allison and 4-year-old Bentley. Holding down a full-time job and caring for so many kids alone made home ownership unfeasible.
"It's pretty cramped," Grunewald said. "It makes it difficult for them to do stuff like riding bikes, because we don't really have any place to keep them."
Grunewald said he was encouraged to apply for a Habitat home by Amanda Krier, a coworker at the Jack Link's plant in New Glarus. When Grunewald was selected in July, he said he couldn't believe it.
Applicants for Habitat for Humanity are selected based on their need, their willingness to assist in the construction process and their ability to pay for the home's mortgage after its completion.
During the home's construction, Grunewald will be required to work for 250 hours on the site, although he is allowed to bring volunteers to divide that time. Grunewald said some of his coworkers at Jack Link's will volunteer their time at the site.
"The kids are excited," Grunewald said. "The oldest, she's really excited to live in a house again."
"Raising four kids in an apartment doesn't really work, for noise reasons," Grunewald said. "But now we'll have a yard and a garden. It'll be nice, not having to worry about neighbors."
Capellaro said volunteers will be able to sign up at the groundbreaking ceremony or at greencountyhabitat.org.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new project will take place at 4:30 p.m. Sunday and will be attended by dignitaries including state Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and state Rep. Sondy Pope (D-Mount Horeb), said longtime Habitat volunteer Carol Holmes.
Holmes said Habitat will unveil the design plans for the home at the ceremony, and some of the dignitaries will deliver speeches about the need for affordable housing.
The residence is the first Habitat for Humanity project to be built in New Glarus in the 23 years the organization has existed, said Helen Capellaro of Habitat's communications committee.
"There's no political reason for that or anything," Capellaro said. "Choices were made to put builds in other towns, that's all."
The build site, located at 100 First Ave., is on the former site of an empty residence that was demolished to make way for the new project, Capellaro said. The project is expected to be functionally complete in early 2018, although some interior work will likely still need to be finished when the tenants move in.
The tenants in this case are the Grunewald family - Greg and his four children.
Grunewald currently lives in a New Glarus apartment with his children - 12-year-old Erika, 7-year-old Zachary, 6-year-old Allison and 4-year-old Bentley. Holding down a full-time job and caring for so many kids alone made home ownership unfeasible.
"It's pretty cramped," Grunewald said. "It makes it difficult for them to do stuff like riding bikes, because we don't really have any place to keep them."
Grunewald said he was encouraged to apply for a Habitat home by Amanda Krier, a coworker at the Jack Link's plant in New Glarus. When Grunewald was selected in July, he said he couldn't believe it.
Applicants for Habitat for Humanity are selected based on their need, their willingness to assist in the construction process and their ability to pay for the home's mortgage after its completion.
During the home's construction, Grunewald will be required to work for 250 hours on the site, although he is allowed to bring volunteers to divide that time. Grunewald said some of his coworkers at Jack Link's will volunteer their time at the site.
"The kids are excited," Grunewald said. "The oldest, she's really excited to live in a house again."
"Raising four kids in an apartment doesn't really work, for noise reasons," Grunewald said. "But now we'll have a yard and a garden. It'll be nice, not having to worry about neighbors."
Capellaro said volunteers will be able to sign up at the groundbreaking ceremony or at greencountyhabitat.org.