Habitat for Humanity Cache Valley begins construction on home in Millville

Todd Cottle shows the foundation of a house under construction in Millville. Habitat for Humanity Cache Valley is building the home for a women raising five grandchildren.

“It’s been a few years since we completed our last home,” but that dry spell is over says Todd Cottle, Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity Cache Valley.

Cottle is hoping to rally community support after construction recently began on their current home build project in Millville.

Cottle says the Habitat for Humanity “model is absolutely unique to any other program out there. We build homes for low income families and individuals.”

The home in Millville is their twelfth project and will be built using discounted labor and donated materials. Cottle says all the funding is not yet in place to complete the home; however, he says “we jumped in and started pouring cement and now we are at foundation level.”

Money to help supplement construction costs for the new home comes from the recently opened ReStore in Logan located at 46 1/2 East 200 South.

ReStore is a thrift store concept that collects donated lumber, doors, sinks, electrical supplies and any other type of materials used in building homes.  Many of the donations come from home owners, apartment project managers doing remodeling and contractors who have excess supplies and materials.

All of the proceeds from the ReStore go back into Habitat for Humanity Cache Valley and stays in the area for local building projects.

Community help is crucial, according to Cottle. “Every dollar saved on construction translates directly to the homeowner’s mortgage at the end of construction.”

The soon-to-be Millville homeowner was selected after going through a rigorous screening process. According to Habitat for Humanity guidelines, the individual or family must qualify based on need, ability to pay, ability to work or contribute sweat equity, and meet the low-income requirements.  When the home is finished, the homeowner will have access to a single-family dwelling, a house that they helped in building, and have an affordable mortgage that will be within their budget.

Family members are required to pitch in and help. Sweat equity hours are based on a sliding scale, depending on the number of adults and teenagers in the home. “This family is going to have to put in 560 hours,” according to Cottle. “That’s quite a bit.”

“This is not like an overnight process. We can’t take people that might be living in the street and put them into a house right away,” says Cottle.  “But the people we do help are certainly at risk and this changes their lives forever.”

“We had one single mom who was cleaning houses as a job, raising three kids alone.” According to Cottle, “Once she got in to her house, she was able to finish school and now she has a bachelor’s degree working in the field of human resources.” Cottle says, “When you talk to her, she’ll tell you that’s the turning point, when she was able to get into a house.”

Habitat for Humanity Cache Valley will be posting construction progress on social media and their websites. Anyone interested in donating, volunteering, or providing donated or discount construction assistance is urged to contact them.

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