On Friday, June 28 Paulding County Habitat For Humanity opened the doors of its newest home build in Paulding Ohio. After many donations of time and materials, this 3-bedroom home is ready to hand the keys to its new owner, Linda Koch-Kious.
The board of the Paulding County Habitat for Humanity was prepared for this dedication ceremony and open house with many of the volunteers in attendance who gave of their time to ensure the new home was ready for Linda to move in.
The ceremony started off with Executive Director, Laurie Lucas, speaking some opening words to the attendees. In unison, everyone read Psalm 124:8 and 127:1 which says who made heaven and earth unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain.
Opening prayer was led by Fr. Austin Ammanniti from Divine Mercy Catholic Church. Jan Comer, PC Habitat board member presented a new Bible to the family. Lisa McClure, Paulding County Commissioner, stated how important the blessing of service was – McClure was on the Habitat board for quite a few years. Roy Klopfenstein, OH representative, stated that the foundation of society is the family, and then he mentioned the passage in Luke about the good Samaritan and how it was so important to make sure that our neighbors are taken care of.
PC Habitat for Humanity president, Anthony Marlin, recognized the numerous volunteers and businesses that donated to this worthy project for a Paulding County citizen.
Companies that donated time and labor included Habitat’s Master Carpenters, Menards, Help Build Hope, Avengrid volunteers, Schlatter’s Plumbing and Heating, Ace Hardware, Carter Lumber of Columbus Grove, Beechwold Christian Church of Columbus, Ohio, Chad Bennett Concrete, Y2K Plumbing, Hartzog Construction, Economical Improvements, as well as other volunteers: Anthony Marlin, Al Free, Frances Maag, Gary Mabis, Mike Culler, Louis Beregszazi, Mark Greenwood (and NARCO), Brian Arnold, Steve Fisher, Shippman, and there were definitely more who volunteered as this is only a partial list.
Paulding County has had a Habitat for Humanity for over 20 years now. This is house number 11 for the organization. The concrete was poured in August 2021 but due to COVID and other situations the project had numerous delays. It is now complete and Linda will get to enjoy a new home!
