By KATE CERVE
kcerve@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5517
Published Monday, Nov 17, 2008 12:00 AM
As her eyes filled with tears, Tracye Blue struggled with the key to her new home at 1713 Prince St.
More than 50 volunteers, friends and relatives watched on Sunday afternoon as she turned to her two teenage daughters for help. Courtney Watson, age 19, pushed the door open, while her 18-year-old sister, Whitney Watson, handed her mother a napkin to wipe her eyes.
Blue, who works for the public library in Lobeco, is the 28th Lowcountry resident to receive a home built by the region's branch of Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit housing ministry that seeks to help low- to moderate-income people own their own homes.
Her home is the third of five to be built on land donated by Beaufort County at the corner of Prince and Hamar streets near downtown Beaufort. The final two houses should be completed in about seven months.
Blue's new house is the first home in northern Beaufort County to be sponsored by Women Build, a Habitat for Humanity international program that encourages women to make a difference by building homes and communities.
Local Women Build members decided to raise money for a home last year and set a goal of $50,000, said steering committee member Bonnie Krstolic
About 150 volunteers hosted cocktail parties, organized silent auctions, coordinated a kayak trip and attended a spa night. Members also sold hats and T-shirts.
In less than a year, they raised more than $60,000 and sent about $4,000 to assist hurricane victims in Mississippi.
Although women raised all the money to pay for construction, some men did help build the 1,150-square-foot home. Construction manager Jim Inlow said about 150 people contributed during the last six months.
Habitat for Humanity officials estimates that it takes about 2,800 volunteer hours to build a home.
Volunteer Barbara Krakehl, who worked on the home once a week, said women came to the project with different experience levels, and some attended construction training at Lowe's Home Improvement store.
"We got a mixture of women, including some true novices that had never handled a power tool," she said.
Habitat homeowners make monthly mortgage payments at an affordable interest rate and volunteer with the program.
Blue said she has spent more than 250 hours building the houses on Prince and Hamar streets and helping with a house in Yemassee.
"It's not just having a new home," said Brenda Dooley, director of Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity. "It's learning to budget and take care of a home and be a good neighbor."
Blue said she's relieved that her home is ready. She applied for Habitat for Humanity in 2006.
"To God be the glory," she said. "This is all about him. This is his gift."
She hopes to move her family from their mobile home in Dale by Thanksgiving and said her daughters are looking forward to living in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house in the city.
"In Beaufort, we're close to everything," said daughter Whitney Watson. "We have
access to things."
Volunteer Susie Gombocz said Blue has been grateful for the volunteers since the project's start. "Her enthusiasm, really, it motivated all of us."