The crowd for four new homes being dedicated on Thursday was large, with more than 100 individuals, including Kauai Habitat for Humanity staff, building volunteers, and a visiting Collegiate Challange group for the passing of four keys at the Waimea Huakai subdivision.
The single parents, Derese Durant and her daughters; Vanessa Udarbe, her children and Mila Racimo; Rebecca Cameron, her children and partner; and Aaron Barreira and his three daughters, each received their house keys along with the Certificate of Occupancy, the paperwork outlining their sweat equity, and housewarming gifts from the Habitat board.
“This Habitat home will make a huge difference in my daughter’s and my lives by giving us a fresh start,” said Durant. “Having a warm, safe place to call our own — where no one can take it from us — means everything.”
The key passing, symbolizing the completion of homes, comes two days ahead of International Women’s Day, said Kauai Habitat for Humanity Executive Director, who noted that three of the four homebuyers were single-parent women and the fourth was a single father raising three daughters.
“Our neighborhoods are comprised largely of women and children, with many women being heads of household,” Pimental, herself a Habitat homeowner, said. “They are also the population most likely to be affected by substandard living conditions.”
The four new homeowners also know the value of sweat equity, as they each received a total number of hours invested when they received their house key following the blessing by Pastor Olaf Hoeckmann Percival of the Waimea United Church of Christ. He also presented each of the homeowners with a mug, salt to purify their new home, and a copy of a book on Waimea, in which he collected stories of living in the oldest building in Waimea.
Tears started flowing down Durant’s cheek when she learned she had invested 1,300 hours following the days of balancing her job, family and putting the house together. Vanessa Udarbe thanked the Lions Club and Bank of Hawaii families for contributing more than 1,300 hours.
Barreira, whose father Ernie Barreira earned the title of Team Father, marked 1,400 hours, and a large “Chee-hoo” erupted from the Cameron ohana when Habitat announced 1,500 hours.
The homes were built with qualified homebuyers in partnership with USDA Sect. 502 Direct Loan to Homebuyers, the State of Hawaii Legislative Grant in Aid Kauai Community Fund, Title Guaranty Hawaii, and many community donors and volunteers, like the 20-person Collegiate Challenge group from Seaton Hall University in New Jersey, which spent an early Spring Break helping build homes.
The Waimea Huakai subdivision, once fully developed, will provide a total of 32 single-family homes in addition to the 35 affordable rental units developed by the County of Kauai and Abe Group.
With eight homes already completed in 2023, including the four dedicated on Thursday, and five more homes nearing completion in Waimea Huakai, the Kauai Habitat for Humanity is continuing to meet the growing demand for affordable housing on Kauai.
