By MARY BAILEY The Reporter
Almost one year exactly after the groundbreaking ceremony for Marshall County’s fifth Habitat for Humanity house, it gets its roof put on making it more than halfway complete for the family receiving it.
“We are right on time with progress,” Melissa Shell, Executive Director of Marshall County Habitat for Humanity, said “It took us a long time to get here but everything is just moving right along. We hope to be finished by September, which is just a little later than the date we had originally set to be completed.”
Shell said even though the outside work on the home is almost finished, they are still looking for volunteers for the inside.
“When we get to the inside we will do more laying the floors, painting, trim work. We can always use volunteers for things like that. We are also still taking donations and sponsors for the house,” Shell continued.
This is the first house Marshall County Habitat for Humanity has been able to build since 2019, partly because during the years of COVID they were hit hard.
Shell wants to be able to bless a family a year with a home but all of that depends on funding and fundraisers.
“In this market, houses are so expensive. It could take up to three years to build another one,” she continued. “We have a very supportive community and from the moment we started planning this, I mean we were in the beginning stages of planning this and David Arnold said, we’ll do the roof. He has been with us from day one and we started this a long time ago. We appreciate these guys and this team so much for what they are doing. It really is a blessing to have people step up like that and go hey, we will handle it for you. They stepped up, handled it and ran with it, so we are just so appreciative of SoCo Roofing.”
David Arnold, Co-Owner of SoCo Roofing and Restoration said they are proud to be a small part of helping to change a life for a family in Marshall County.
“A buddy of mine that’s on the board here at Habitat for Humanity called and just asked a favor. As soon as he told me what it was about, we were all in. We are always trying to give back to the community. We just finished Rock the Dock, we annually hold First Responders cookouts for the community, and this was just another way for us to give back and show the community that we are here to help build and support our area to make it better.”
Arnold said the team he has behind him makes it easy.
“My business partner, Zack Farris, started the company in 2017 and this has been our home base since then. I joined the team with him, and we have luckily hired an office manager, Lisa Engle, she is the glue that holds us together. We’ve been lucky enough to have some sales guys to join the team. We are very proud of what we have built here, and we want to continue building.”
Shell said a family has been chosen for the new Habitat for Humanity home and they hope to have a home dedication in September of this year.
For more information on the Marshall County Habitat for Humanity homes or to volunteer time or resources, contact (256) 202-9468 or email habitat.marshallco@gmail.com.
