The following is a report from The Elkhart Truth.
Habitat for Humanity of Elkhart County on Tuesday marked its ninth ground-breaking this year, one of 12 houses planned for 2025.
Two houses have already been completed, said Greg Conrad, executive director for Habitat for Humanity of Elkhart County.
“We’ll be breaking ground on another one next week,” he said during a ceremony Tuesday. “We are very busy. We have a lot of people who need homes and so, it’s going to be a very busy summer.”
Carmen Calderon, the future homeowner of the house being built on 1421 Krau St., said shewas emotional in the days leading up to the groundbreaking because she has done a lot work to get to this point. Calderon is a single mother and phlebotomist at Goshen Family Medicine.
The house Calderon and her 2-year-old daughter, Thyri, will be moving into will be a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath home. It will be the first two-bedroom home constructed by Habitat for Humanity of Elkhart County.
“Just the security of it being my house,” Calderon said when asked about what she is looking forward to most about being a homeowner. “But most importantly, my baby has her own room and a safe spot for her to call home.”
People who are in Calderon’s position are often the first person in their family to own a home, Conrad said. He also noted the reality of how entry-level housing is getting harder to afford because the cost of housing has gone up faster than income.
Alex Otto, director of communications for the city, said affordable housing is something the mayor’s office talks about a lot. Under Mayor Rod Roberson’s Aspire plan, implementing more affordable housing is a priority, Otto said.
“There is a need for housing from every income level, top to bottom, in the city of Elkhart,” Otto said.
The building of the Krau Street home in particular is a collaboration between Habitat for Humanity of Elkhart County and Winnebago Industries, a manufacturer of outdoor recreation products. The partnership is a part of the 2025 Women Build, groups of women volunteers from the community who come help build the home.
Conrad noted that more than 90 percent of homes that Habitat builds is for single moms. The Winnebago Industries Women Build is “women empowering women,” Conrad said.
Winnebago plans a July 15 build event in Middlebury with more than 50 employees from across Winnebago Industries’ brands building the home’s interior and exterior walls. These walls will then be delivered to the construction site, where volunteers will continue building throughout the summer.
The completion date will be sometime in the fall, Conrad said.
