Habitat house turned over to family

Tears as cancer-stricken mom leaves wheelchair to walk inside

Following the closure of the event at Sonoma State University several hundred people drove to Santa Rosa for the official dedication of the Habitat for Humanity house at 1249 Ripley Street.

The crowd cheered when vineyard worker Serafin Duran cut the ceremonial ribbon. Many wept as cancer sufferer Adela Duran declined an offer to lift her wheelchair onto the front porch. She rose, then stepped slowly up the sidewalk, climbed the steps and entered her new, 1,200 square foot, three bedroom home.

Central to the construction effort were lead contractor John Davenport, and his wife, Gayle Pickrell, pastor of Christ UMC, Santa Ros. She also chaired local arrangements for Jubilee 2000. Both has spearheaded the drive to keep the local Habitat affiliate alive in order to make the Jubilee 2000 ³blitz-build² a reality.

Local Habitat affiliate chair Rebecca Loehr assisted, while Conference Volunteers in Mission Director Dave Wolf helped arrange volunteer construction workers. Conference churches met the original commitment to HfH of Sonoma County: $60,000!

Beyond that, folks at the event contributed $5,000 to HfH International the night founder and president Millard Fuller gave his dynamic address. They reached down further still and summoned up $2,958 so the Duran family could get a good start on furnishing their new ³blitz-built² home.

Apparently enthused by the affiliate¹s new life and vigor, someone in Sonoma county contributed $100,000 anonymously.

(Bill Sanford, Chuck Myer and Jerry Hurley contributed to this story)