Fox Valley agency builds 100th home

Habitat for Humanity of Northern Fox Valley is building its 100th home across the street from the first home built by the agency 26 years ago.

Isidro and Marisol Espinoza, who will live in the new home at 482 Fremont St., Elgin, were among a dozen or so volunteers and agency representatives who donned hard hats and helped raise one wall Friday morning. That's the 51st home the agency has rehabbed or built in Elgin.

The Espinozas said they are grateful for the chance to achieve their homeownership dream. The homes are built or rehabbed by the agency, sold without a profit and financed through zero-interest loans.

"Without that, I wouldn't have had the opportunity," said Marisol Espinoza, a stay-at-home mom of children ages 8, 4 and 2 months.

"We are very thankful. Very thankful," said Isidro Espinoza, a landscaper.

None of it would happen without the work of volunteers, said Habitat board President David Leali. "It is quite an achievement to get to this point," he said.

Longtime Elgin resident Ernie Broadnax said the home is being built on the former site of the home of a member of a pioneer black family in Elgin. "I think this is very significant for the whole neighborhood."

Even one new home can make a difference in a neighborhood, by giving "a little bit of inspiration all around there that it's going to get better," Mayor David Kaptain said. He praised the group for responding to the economic downturn of 2009 by also rehabbing existing homes.

Volunteer Tom Steele of Bartlett said the agency is well organized, which makes volunteering all the more rewarding. "This is one of those things I think every young boy wants - to have a hammer in his hand and build."

David Chau and Sockha Neang, the first family to get a new Habitat home in 1990, recently paid off their mortgage. "I feel special," Chau said. "It's a good thing."