First Habitat for Humanity home in Eagan gets great community support

I have to give a big (blistered) thumbs up to my childhood town of Eagan! On Thursday, I got to join about 15 Eaganites working on the very first Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity home that'll be completed in that city. We were honored to have Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire lend a hand painting. State Representative Laurie Halvorson and City Councilmembers Gary Hansen and Paul Bakken also worked all day on the home. We called this a Community Build Day and that's really what it was. 

The home in Eagan was donated to Habitat by Bank of America. It had been through foreclosure and for several years the only thing living in it was mold (which popped up after the pipes burst).  

During our lunch of pizza and salad, McKinsie, the Site Supervisor on this project, told us about how supportive people in the neighborhood have been for Habitat to be working on the home. Once it's fully rehabbed (which should be sometime this year) a family of six will be moving in (mom, dad, mother-in-law and three kids - including an 8-week-old infant girl!). They can't wait and two of them (dad and mother-in-law) were actually helping us work in the beautiful weather.

I spent the day driving nails into the new sub-floor in the bathroom and entry way. We then put down vinyl flooring. It was obvious that my hands are not used to that much hammering. But my blister is a good reminder of the valuable work I was a part of. 

A few news reporters even came by to cover Eagan's first Habitat home. You can see the news coverage in the Pioneer Press, on KSTP, and on the Eagan Patch site. This was wonderful that we were able to get the word out!