DALLAS (KRLD) - The Habitat for Humanity office in Fort Worth is marking 30 years this week by completing a house in 30 hours.
Volunteers from ten companies, non-profits and churches started work on the house Thursday.
"Providing for the American dream, providing a hand-up, not a hand-out," says Trinity Habitat CEO Gage Yager. "It makes a tremendous difference in the neighborhood and for the family."
The house will be moved to the Como neighborhood, where Gigi Rutsinski and her three children will move in. Rutsinski survived genocide in Rwanda and is a single mother.
Until now, she says she was having to move to a new apartment every year.
"This house is going to change our life," says Gigi Rutsinski. "They'll never have to go to a different school. They'll have a backyard where they can play, and they can make friends."
Yager says the increase in rent and home prices across North Texas has led to a spike in calls for help. He says that demand forced Trinity Habitat to stop accepting applications last year.
"We have a strong economy, which is a wonder. Yay, God, we want a strong economy," he says. "But one of the outcomes of a strong economy is the pressure it puts on the real estate market. It creates some cost burdens on people down the income scale."
Over the past 30 years, Trinity Habitat says it has completed 700 homes.
