The woman and her teenage son have been living in someone else’s small basement. Last week, though, Yeon Hi Parker attained her dream of owning her own home partly through "sweat equity." She was handed the keys of the Fairfax townhouse by Deeda Calderazzo of St. Catherine Parish in Great Falls.

This event was made possible through Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia (HFHNV) and the Great Falls Ecumenical Council (GFEC), of which St. Catherine Parish is a member. Calderazzo is the parish representative and vice president for the GFEC. After speaking about the Habitat project during weekend Masses at St. Catherine’s last summer, 150 parish volunteers came forward. Each Wednesday and Saturday for nearly a year, their work teams of 15-20 people have labored on the site with the selected homeowners, under trained supervision.

Parishioner Virginia Paganelli, volunteer coordinator, ensured that the volunteers would be on site each workday. Some of the participants included the parish’s confirmandi, home schoolers, over-50 group and representatives of different parish organizations, who were either builders or lunch-providers.

Emotions were high at the dedication ceremony of "Stevenson Street Project," Phase I, in Fairfax last week. The nine nearly completed townhomes were each sponsored by a family, church, charitable organization, business or combinations thereof. The three-bedroom residences should be ready for occupancy on Aug. 1.

"St. Benedict said to labor is to pray," said Calderazzo. "We are coming together as one in prayer through our labor," she said of the ecumenical effort. Its "tradition is to serve the community through ministry." The Habitat home is one of several charitable causes in which the Council has participated.

The other churches in the GFEC include Andrew Chapel United Methodist Church, Christ the King Lutheran Church, Dranesville Church of the Brethren, Great Falls United Methodist Church, Smith’s Chapel United Methodist Church and St. Francis Episcopal Church.

Rev. Richard Keller, president of the GFEC and pastor of Great Falls United Methodist Church, offered the ceremony’s dedication litany, which included the refrain, "Thank you for this opportunity to participate and serve."

Because Habitat is a Christian organization, Bibles were presented to the new homeowners, along with framed pictorial mementos of the construction process.

"We all feel loved by God and we feel loved by you too," said Parker to the crowd at the ceremony. She referred to "the American dream" of becoming a homeowner. "We know these houses are made with a lot of sweat, hard work and love. We will make this beautiful house into a beautiful home. I owe a great deal to this country and to all of you. Thank you very much. God bless you and God bless America."

Angel Rivera, a vice president of HFHNV’s board of directors, pointed out that the partner families invest more than a monetary commitment. "They work for their home; we don’t give it to them," he said. For the Stevenson Street Project, the organization purchased 1.64 acres from the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority to build 18 townhomes for qualified low-income families in the county. They were sold to the selected families with no-interest mortgages and a one-percent-down payment.

Applicants must be Fairfax County residents currently living in either substandard or inadequate housing and their annual incomes must range between 20-50 percent of the Washington Metropolitan Area median income of $78,900 or less. The families must fulfill certain requirements, such as putting in a pre-determined number of hours, called sweat equity, to help construct their home. For single-parent families, 300 hours of labor are necessary; for two-parent families, 500 hours.

Parker was described as "the hardest working woman in Northern Virginia," by Mark Wheatley, a vice president of HFHNV’s board of directors. She has been working as a seamstress and cleaner while attending school at night.

For four years, Parker volunteered on Habitat sites; the first three out of generosity and anticipation of one day being selected as a homeowner, and the final year on her own home. She also recently completed a three-year medical assistant program to improve her professional skills.

Parker and her two children, Chris, 16 and Elizabeth, 13, will live in the townhome. Since her current basement dwelling is too small for three people, her daughter has been living with the child’s father overseas.

The GFEC was required to raise $85,000 to pay for most of the home’s costs, which included land acquisition and development, building materials and professional services. St. Catherine’s financial commitment as part of the Council was $10,000. Calderazzo asked that parishioners contribute funds, labor and strong prayer support. Volunteers are crucial to the construction process; through their contribution Habitat sold the homes for less than $100,000.

Groundbreaking for the project occurred last fall, three days before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Calderazzo said the response for the Habitat homes were heartening.

"We went on with it," said Calderazzo. "The kind of comments you heard were, ‘We need to be here. It’s our way of contributing to society, the country.’"

"Every weekend more than 200 volunteers gathered here to raise walls and raise hope," said Frank Palmer (no relation to the homeowner), of HFHNV’s board of directors and member of Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, at the dedication ceremony.

Habitat’s projects always kick-off construction in mid-September, and the third Sunday of that month is the organization’s "International Day of Prayer."

This Saturday in Toronto, Pope John Paul II will bless a Habitat House which youth pilgrims helped construct during World Youth Day, which an estimated 215,000 people are expected to attend.

Helen McIlvaine, HFHNV’s executive director, is an active member of St. Mark Parish in Vienna and former director of Catholics for Housing. She said that the homes tangibly "represent the realization of the hopes and dreams of a whole community." A less tangible element was the "human love envisioned, endeavored and sacrificed to get us here," she said. To fulfill their sweat equity, McIlvaine noted that the future occupants often came to do so on weekends after working a second or third job, or after being up all night with a sick baby.

At the Stevenson Street Project, some of the local Catholic institutions working on other homes included volunteers from St. Mark Parish, students from Paul VI Catholic High School in Fairfax, college students from Kentucky, Knights of Columbus members from the Sts. Andrew and Clare Parishes in Clifton and the St. Vincent de Paul Conference based at St. Leo the Great Parish in Fairfax.

Some of the volunteer groups which helped with Phase I of the Stevenson Street Project included Girl Scouts, attorneys, the mentally retarded, women’s groups, corporate presidents and a team from the White House.

"Home is what Habitat communities are all about," said McIlvaine.

"Instead of single-family homes, Habitat builds townhouses in Fairfax County, because land is so scarce and expensive," said Paul Reynard, Habitat coordinator for St. Mark Parish, which teamed with some Vienna churches on a home.

Calderazzo said that every morning of the two weekly workdays, Gillette’s Coffee of Fairfax donated beverages. Almost every restaurant in town donated lunch at least once during the project. The corporate business community also supported the project by allowing their employees to take days off to help.

As a housewarming gift to the Parker family, the youths of GFEC’s Christ the King Lutheran Church made three things for the Parker family: a birdhouse to provide shelter for God’s creatures; coat rack because home is a place where you hang your coat; and a doorstop to keep the door open for loved ones and friends.

Anne Murphy, diocesan Catholic Charities’ parish social ministry director, also serves on Habitat’s Church Relations Committee being responsible for contact with the Catholic parishes in part of Northern Virginia.

"Building a Habitat house is an exhilarating experience for the builders and the whole parish, and serves as a lasting tribute for the community," she said. "In Northern Virginia, it very difficult to find safe, decent and affordable housing. Habitat offers a wonderful opportunity to provide that, and it’s permanent and available to a qualifying family."

The involvement of St. Catherine Parish is a "model of how faith communities of different traditions can come together to work on a joint project that truly makes a difference in the larger community," she said. "What a marvelous witness to have seven churches join hands and hearts to work together for the common good."

Diocesan Parishes Involved in Other Habitat Homes

Many other diocesan Catholic parishes have been or will be involved in Habitat projects. Some of the previous participants include the parishes of Our Lady of the Blue Ridge in Madison, St. Francis of Assisi in Triangle and St. Stephen the Martyr in Middleburg.

In September two other Habitat projects will begin. A central Alexandria coalition, which includes the parishes of Blessed Sacrament, St. Joseph and St. Rita, will embark on a major rehabilitation of an existing house in Old Town. The recent dedication service in Fairfax was also the occasion of introducing Phase II of the Stevenson Street Project. One of the homes is sponsored by the McLean Interfaith Coalition which includes the parishes of St. John and St. Luke.

Habitat for Humanity International

Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), founded in 1976, is a nonprofit, nondenominational Christian housing organization. Committed to social justice, its goal is to build or renovate affordable, decent, simple houses for those in need of adequate shelter. The organization’s work is coordinated at the local level by more than 1,900 affiliates worldwide. The money from each house’s sale is put into a revolving Fund for Humanity to support future building projects.

Former United States President Jimmy Carter, a skilled carpenter, has been involved with HFHI since 1984, and the Jimmy Carter Work Project is a widely-recognized annual week-long event.

Since being established, Habitat for Humanity International has constructed more than 100,000 houses in more than 80 countries, including some 30,000 across the U. S. "Homeowner families are chosen according to need, ability to repay the no-profit, no-interest mortgage and their willingness to work in partnership with Habitat," states the organization’s Web site. Habitat does not discriminate according to race, religion or ethnic group." For more information on Habitat for Humanity International and its local affiliates go to www.habitat.org.