7960640075?profile=originalHelen Bass puts the hammer into the project as soon-to-be-homeowner Gethro Phaitus

keeps watch during a roof-raising at 421 SW Fifth Ave. in Delray Beach.

Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

7960640863?profile=originalThe Phaitus family — mom Yvescar; daughter Geica, 4; son Liam, 2; and dad Gethro —

stands at the homesite. It takes Habitat for Humanity four to six months to finish a house.

Photo provided

By Lucy Lazarony

    For 25 years, Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County has been building homes for families and changing lives.
    “We’ve built 124 homes,” says Mike Campbell, executive director. “They are complete and have families living in them and we currently have three homes under construction. We’re bringing people together to build homes, community and hope.”
    A group of retired IBM executives hatched the idea for Habitat for Humanity in south Palm Beach County in 1989.
    They had traveled up to West Palm Beach to help Habitat build a home in the Westgate community, and when they found out there wasn’t a program for South County, they said, “We can fix that.”
    And they started the process to do just that, finishing on April 29, 1991, Habitat of Humanity of South Palm Beach County’s official anniversary date.  
    The first house was built at 164 NE 11th St. in Boca Raton. The gross cost of the house was $10,425 and the gross cost of a house today is $120,000.
    The house was started on Sept. 7, 1991, and completed on June 24, 1992.
     “We do much better than that now,” Campbell says.
    Now Habitat homes are completed in four to six months. Habitat does it with a staff of 42 and 1,700 volunteers.
    “Last year, we had just over 1,700 different individuals participate in 46,000 hours of service,” Campbell says. “Seventy percent of every Habitat house is built by volunteers and 30 percent is contracted labor.”  
    There’s no building experience required to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity.
    “You don’t need any experience at all. We have paid staff and volunteer crew leaders that will show you everything you need to know,” Campbell says.  
    To volunteer, visit the Habitat for South Palm Beach County website, www.habitatsouthpalmbeach.org, and click on the volunteer button.
    Volunteer John Shelly of Boynton Beach has helped to build 98 houses.  
    “It’s fun,” Shelly says. “It’s rewarding seeing a house go together and see the family move into the house, how excited they are. It’s just an American dream come true.”
    There was a roof-raising for the future home of the Phaitus family — Gethro and Yvescar Phaitus and their daughter, Geica, 4, and their son, Liam, 2 — in Delray Beach on March 19.    
    “It’s a good experience,” says Gethro Phaitus. “It’s like you are working with your family.”  
    Like every family helped by Habitat, Phaitus is pitching in to help build other Habitat houses as well as his own.  
    Jermain Fashaw and his wife, Meshell, and their two children, India, 14, and Jermain II, 12, having been living six years in a Habitat house that they helped to build in Boynton Beach.
    “I can’t say enough about Habitat. It was just a total blessing,” Fashaw says. “It was a step up for us.”  
    There is a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County celebrating its 25th anniversary planned for April 21 at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach.
    Swing for Habitat, featuring live music by The Garrison Elliott Band, includes dinner, dancing, an open bar, silent auction and raffle prizes. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $75 per person. To purchase tickets, visit www.swingforhabitat.com.
    Habitat also is looking to raise money through a Women’s Build Week in May. Volunteers are required to make a minimum, tax-deductible donation of $50 to register.
    “We’re going to do a weeklong women’s build,” Campbell says. “They are going to put roofs on a couple of homes if we raise enough money. You’ve never seen a house straighter or more square than when women build.”
    Another way to support Habitat’s mission is with donations to and purchases from its three thrift stores. Habitat ReStores are at 1900 N. Federal Highway in Delray, 272 S. Dixie Highway in Boca Raton and 10055 Yamato Road in west Boca Raton.

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