© Best Version Media
AROUND THE TOWN
BY MICHELLE DEININGER PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MCKNIGHT FAMILY AND BRITTANY OLSEN
A FIELD, A ROOF, AND A DREAM COME TRUE Heber family has much to feel grateful for, thanks to Habitat for Humanity Two decades ago, Wendy McKnight was a mother of young twins dreaming of building a home on a piece of land in Heber Valley, Utah. It was a big, empty field owned by her children’s great-grandparents. There was plenty of space and they’d be able to live near relatives and friends. When she and her former partner broke up, the dream went with it, since the land belonged to his family. Wendy tried to move on and find a home as a single mother, but she struggled.“I filled out so many applications, I tried anything and anywhere,” she remembers. “It was always a no; never a yes.” Every agency Wendy applied to had a different reason for turning her down. Some said she didn’t make enough money to qualify, others said she earned too much. The rejections piled up, meanwhile, she kept renting, working, and parenting alone. Wendy wasn’t completely sure what her needs were, but knew she wanted to give her children their very own place to play, decorate for the holidays, and feel permanently connected. Then, things got really wild. Wendy’s phone rang, it was a representative from Habitat for Humanity saying her application looked promising and she was a candidate for a to-be-built house. Ironically, and if by some miracle, Wendy’s future house would sit squarely on the very land she used to dream about. Her ex-partner’s grandparents had sold the field to a buyer who later donated it to Habitat for Humanity. “It’s like grandpa - he’s passed on now - he was looking out for me and my kids,” she says. “That’s how I see it.” A core part of Habitat for Humanity’s ethos is to create and strengthen healthy, vibrant communities by working to ensure everyone has a decent place to live. As part of that mission, the non-profit connects homeowners to their new house through “sweat equity,” involving the buyer in the building process. Habitat homeowners also pay monthly mortgage bills to the organization, which is a non-denominational Christian entity, and an equal opportunity housing provider. For Wendy’s family, their project broke ground at the same time her twins were high school freshmen. Strangely, her son was enrolled in a building class that lacked a project. Voila! The powers that be granted permission for the class to help build the house; the students pitched in on a variety of tasks, but their primary achievement was building the home’s roof. Other community members played roles as well. While Wendy was working as an office manager for the police department, a local judge began directing those sentenced to community service hours over to Wendy’s home site. Through her job, plumbers, electricians, and other tradespeople arrived to volunteer and lend their skills and expertise. In 2003, Wendy’s dream finally came true, the house was finished, and she and her 15-year-old twins moved into the home. To this day, Wendy can still recite the building materials and construction methods used to craft the house. Now, Wendy works in the Wasatch County clerk’s office. Her daughter lives nearby and works at the county courthouse. Her son works for UDOT; he, his wife, and their two young sons are living with Wendy as
they navigate an economically prohibitive landscape for home buyers. “They’re having a hard time getting into anything in Heber because it’s so expensive,” Wendy says. “It’s sad, younger generations don’t have the opportunity. It’s just so hard to get a home here, so they leave.” Leaving is not something Wendy wants to have happen when it comes to her children and grandchildren. “Our family is all about family,” she says. But high housing costs are a stark, painful reality in many parts of the country, with the Wasatch Back being particularly hard-hit by factors, including the COVID-era work-anywhere trend, and the seemingly endless popularity of Utah’s skiing, snowboarding, and mountain biking havens––dreamy for those who can afford it, lifechanging for those who can’t. "Families who work in our community, from employees of small businesses to civil servants, have been priced out of buying a home in Summit and Wasatch counties for awhile now, and the gap between wages and home prices is only growing,” said Shellie Barrus, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Summit and Wasatch Counties. “Owning your own home is a transformational experience for our families that lasts generations." Wendy agrees, feeling certain she would never have become a homeowner without the non-profit’s support. Habitat for Humanity is a global organization founded in 1976; Utah’s chapter was formed in 1995––originally, as an all-volunteer operation–– and since then has built homes and townhomes for 22 families and individuals. Building a home from the ground up is no small task, but their current goal is to begin constructing 10 homes per year. Habitat doesn’t use a traditional waitlist approach. People can be placed on an “information list” by emailing programs@habitat-utah.org, which starts the process. More information about Habitat for Humanity can be found at Habitat-Utah.org. NOVEMBER 2024 // 47