CRESTVIEW — Samuel Deese, who turned 11 on Friday, knew he was getting his biggest birthday present.
“I told him there weren’t many 11-year-olds who get a house for their birthday,” Okaloosa County Habitat for Humanity secretary Debbie Bodenstine said.
The Deeses' South Savage Street home is the 53rd Habitat house built in the program’s 22 years in the county, Bodenstine said. More than 800 volunteers contributed some 5,000 hours of labor to raise the three-bedroom dwelling for Samuel, his brother, Ethan, 8, and their mom, Stefanie.
It was one of two Habitat homes in the entire nation to benefit from a “blitz build” in 2014. More than 300 volunteers, including about 40 Habitat “Road Trip Crazies,” framed and sheathed the home in three days in October.
Airman 1st Class Michael Sanchez of Eglin Air Force Base was one of the volunteers touring the Deeses' new home during its Monday dedication. “I worked at this multiple weeks,” he said. “I’m looking at the final results and I’m going, ‘Yeah, I did that.’”
During the dedication, Samuel and Ethan showed visitors their rooms, with Samuel indicating exactly where he’d like to see a flat-screen TV mounted. Ethan pointed out the view of their spacious backyard from his room — “I picked it out myself,” he said — and a towering oak in which the boys envision a tree fort, or at least a swing.
Ten volunteers, organized by Sharlene Cox of the Exchange Club of Crestview, plan to return to complete fencing in the backyard.
Stefanie Deese said she and her family are still amazed to at last have a home of their own, after being unable to afford a deposit to buy a home. “It’s finally happening," she said.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview family moves into Habitat for Humanity house for son's birthday