Family of 5 breaks ground for next Habitat home

Jessie and Danielle Romine of Bonners Ferry were excited to get a phone call asking, “So when will you be ready to look at some floor plans?”

The Romines were chosen by Boundary County Habitat for Humanity a for a new home with a floor plan of their choice.

The Romines and their children Alex, 6; Hannah, 4; Trinity 20 months; and a baby due in October will occupy the four-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath  home on Birch Street in Bonners Ferry.

 There were 17 applicants, according to local Habitat for Humanity President Georgia Jimenez.   Ten interviews were set up and the Romines qualified.

Jessie Romine works at Quality Farm and Garden Center and his wife is a full-time mom.  The couple will be required to put in at least 500 hours to help build their home.

“I will be doing a lot of baking for the volunteers since I can’t do a lot of the heavy work at first,” said Danielle.

Building coordinator Will Hedrick of Boundary Electric Co. said it should take about nine months to finish the house.  The more volunteers the sooner it can be completed.

“It is tough to do, but we are shooting for nine months or less to have this completed,” said Hedrick. “I am spear-heading a schedule as soon as plans are into the city.”

“We applied for the home after seeing an article in the Herald saying more applicants were needed,” said Jessie Romine.

The majority of the building materials are donated as well as the land, according to Jimenez.

Hedrick said that as long as everything goes according to plan construction should start in two to three weeks. 

“I just want to thank everyone involved and I am sure I will be thanking everyone a lot during the building and later on,” said Jessie.

“I get to help build our house and see it get built,” added 6-year-old Alex.

The family will choose paint, flooring and carpet.  Appliances were donated by Whirlpool. The mortgage is a non-interest loan and payments run from $350 to $450 a month.  Funding for the project comes from donations and grants.

“This is work for the love of the Lord, to get this done to give to people in need,” said Hedrick.

For information, call Georgia and Pete Jimenez at 267-5908, or Greg Garrison at 267-5677.