Habitat home is mother’s dream come true

Saint John Times Globe May 28, 2001
By Mia Urquhart

Habitat for Humanity never promised Cheryl Green a rose garden. But they’ve promised her a house.

From left, Debbie Rice, Keesha Green, Cheryl Green, Tiffany Green, MLA Norm McFarlane and Mayor Shirley McAlary break ground for the fourth Habitat for Humanity home in the city on Wilson Street West.Photo by Peter Walsh, Saint John Telegraph-Journal.

She’ll take care of the rest.

“There will be roses,” Ms. Green said with a laugh yesterday as she envisioned the new home she’ll soon be living in with her two young daughters.

Ms. Green is the fourth person in Saint John to receive a home from Habitat for Humanity, the non-profit Christian housing ministry that offers homes at a low cost to hard-working, low-income applicants. Mayor Shirley McAlary and Saint John Lancaster MLA Norm McFarlane were among a group of about 50 people who applauded Ms. Green and her good fortune at a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday afternoon. The ceremony took place at the corner of Coster and Wilson Streets in the city’s West Side.
Ms. Green, a lab assistant at the Saint John Regional Hospital, was one of about 25 people to apply this year, said Debbie Rice, the president of Habitat’s Saint John affiliate.

“We were able to pick a very good family from that,” she said.
As with recipients in past years, Ms. Green must volunteer for at least 500 hours with Habitat and be able to make low, interest-free payments toward a long-term mortgage.

Ms. Green is more than willing to do her part, already dreaming of what her home will look like. “ I’ve been trying to decorate in my head,” she said. She sees a shade of yellow she has picked out for the inside. She sees a hanging pot rack in the kitchen. She sees a home that is warm and inviting.
“It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a very young girl,” she said.

Mr. McFarlane said he was happy to have helped secure the piece of land on which the house will be built.“We as a government had an opportunity to sell it and I kept saying: ‘No. We can’t sell it. It’s got to go to Habitat for humanity.’ So we were able to secure it and I’m so happy for you and your family,” he said.