Two single mothers pushed golden spades into wet north Moorhead grass Saturday, shoveling earth where their homes will rise.
Candace Morin, whose thoughts have centered on this outcome for five years, and whose three daughters dug for the same dream, smiled and said the organization donating her a house is wonderful.
Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity - which plans six more homes in 2008 - linked with the Fargo Moorhead Area Association of Realtors and Women Building for Women on this Mother's Day weekend project.
It is the second Habitat build Women Building for Women will sponsor, and both groups will lend volunteers to the two single-family homes' construction this summer.
"We're not building houses, we're establishing homes," said Moorhead City Council member Diane Wray Williams, amid a crowd of about 40 people, some holding umbrellas to keep off the sporadic rain.
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The corner, 802 15th St. N. and 1520 8th Ave. N., had blighted structures until last year.
DeAnne Mason of the Realtor association said each new living locale will cost $80,000, nearly $60,000 of which has been raised by the group's members and affiliates.
"We truly feel like we're giving back to the community," said association President-elect Scott Breidenbach. The groundbreaking was the culmination of two years of fundraising for its first Habitat project.
Breidenbach said he hopes his organization can someday repeat what he called a life-changing day for the families.
The second mother, who has a son and daughter, did not want to be named in a Forum article due to personal reasons.
Morin, the single mother of three, has been living in a subsidized Moorhead townhome.
She pursued a possible Habitat home when a friend of hers received one in Bemidji, Minn.
"In the end, I'll have to deal with the same closing as anybody else would, and make the same mortgage payments," said Morin, who works at Integreon Managed Solutions in Fargo.
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Morin's 6-year-old daughter, Lillian, will get to share a room with one of her two older sisters, Bethany, 10, or Fayth, 11.
"I really want to do this," Morin said, "because I wanted them to have their own home and be able to play in their own backyard."
Readers can reach Forum reporter Lee Morris at (701) 235-7311
