Dedication of the Lopez Habitat for Humanity Home

(Story and photos submitted by Shirley Devereaux.)

What a joy it was to gather for the dedication service of the seventh Habitat for Humanity home, on Sunday, October 20^th,  at 701 Willow Lane in Omak.  Several members of the board for Okanogan County Habitat for Humanity were there as well as the Lopez family, Ramon, Maria and their 3 children, Jazmine, Ramon and Jorge.

Pastor Maggie McNett opened with prayer and a beautiful sharing of what it means to have a home.  She also had refurbished a beautiful chair for the family.  A photo album of the work in progress, a vacuum cleaner and a bilingual Bible were presented to them.

Shirley Devereaux, and Ben and Sally Hylton sang the traditional “Bless This House”.   Father Jake Morton led those present  in a walk through as he blessed each room and closed the service with a prayer of blessing for the home and family.

Community support has come from all over the county including businesses in  Oroville, Tonasket, Okanogan and Omak.  The house was filled with joy, laughter and gratitude as appreciation was shared for all the many volunteer hands and hours of labor that led to the completion of this home. Community Foundation of North Central Washington got the build started with a grant of $2100.  Grant donations and materials have been received from Safeway, Home Depot, Walmart, Ace Hardware, Midway Building Supply, Valley Lumber, Naylor's Air Conditioning & Heating, All Valley Insulation and Tonasket Interiors as well as regular donations from area churches and individuals.

It has been a long journey getting this home built, but in the midst of ups and downs so many people stepped forward to offer their special skills to solve a problem at just the right time.  Thank you to all who have had a share in the building of this Habitat for Humanity home through prayer, money, time or resources.  Working together in Christian love is what Habitat for Humanity is all about.

Building a Better World, One House At a Time

One of the ongoing missions of our congregations is the Okanogan County Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. Both congregations give financial support, and we are pleased to have four persons serving on the board: Sally Campbell, from Ellisforde; and Arlene Johnson, Shirley Devereaux, and Pat Liley, from Whitestone.

Habitat's vision is "a world where everyone has a decent place to live," and that's our vision, too. We're glad for the dedicated people in this county lending their dollars and muscle to make it happen here, too.

A big thank you to Shirley for sending these photos of a recent workday at the newest homesite in Omak. For more information about Habitat for Humanity and their work of providing low cost housing for families around the globe, click HERE.

Arlene Johnson

Shirley Devereaux