At home at Millard Place

Rod Haller believes that angels are among us. In fact, he said, there’s one particular Post Falls neighborhood where their presence can be seen and felt – and they’ll be back again.

His proof? Just take a stroll through the Millard Place subdivision west of town, where every resident has a second-chance story to tell and each home was built in a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of North Idaho, where the heavenly go to work. At least according to Haller and girlfriend Nancy Keillor, who became the neighborhoods newest homeowners in a public dedication recently.

“This is cool,” Haller said, a smile etched across his flushed face, to the crowd of more than 50 friends, family and supporters who had gathered for the morning event. As almost everyone in the room audibly choked back tears, he added, “This is really cool. This is a blessing from God – all of you are a blessing from God. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, and it’s always worked its way for the up.”

Located just outside of Post Falls and a few blocks south of Seltice Way, Millard Place was designed by the North Idaho affiliate of Habitat for Humanity in 2005 as a neighborhood for the less-fortunate to make a fresh start. Volunteers provide most of the labor, and individual and corporate donors provide funds and materials to build the homes, according to the group’s Web site.

While 28 houses have been built across North Idaho, “this is the first Habitat for Humanity subdivision,” said Jim Brannon, the group’s executive director. “Our board was visionary to get this done … And kudos to the city of Post Falls because they really supported this development from the start.”

The new two-bedroom, 952-square-foot home of Haller, Keillor and their two sons William and Charles, which came stocked with food and beverages thanks to Coeur d’Alene Grocery Outlet and a wood floor courtesy of Post Falls High School’s shop class, is the ninth of the subdivision’s dozen planned homes. The couple was chosen to become homeowners after going through a lengthy application process, which included about 200 other applicants.

“Unfortunately we get a lot more applicants than homes we can build,” Brannon told the gathering. The dedication to the family included an invocation, gifts of a Bible, handmade quilts from a local church stitching circle, and finally the presentation of the house keys. Afterward, Brannon said, “When we see a day like today, it makes it all worthwhile.”

Family selection is based on need, ability to repay the interest-free mortgage, and willingness to partner with Habitat, said Ralph Meyer, chairman of the Family Selection Committee. The agreement also requires that families dedicate hundreds of hours of labor as “sweat equity” into building their own homes and the homes of others, as well as attending finance classes for the homeowners. The loan is equal to the amount it cost to build the home, not the appraised value, and 10 percent of each monthly payment goes into a home building fund for future projects.

“They do pay for these houses, but it’s interest-free,” Meyer said after the dedication, while standing in one of the home’s bare bedrooms, which would get its occupants later that night. About the morning celebration, he added, “It’s always a good feeling – a warm feeling, and you get a big lump in your throat whenever they hand over the keys.”

Brannon also said those chosen for Habitat homes have a much lower default rate on their mortgage payments than the national average. Though more importantly for the families, he offered, “Kids have the stability that their moms and dads didn’t have.”

The dedication marked a milestone in both Haller’s and Keillor’s lives. The day was a celebration for their family and their homeownership, and served as a reflection on how far the couple had come.

After almost 30 years of drug abuse, Haller said he’d become a career criminal. “It was chaos. I was in and out of jail, I served 13 years in prison,” he said. “I lived for the next shot of dope.”

That all changed the last time Haller was busted for possession. “I decided that was enough,” he explained. “I quit using alcohol and drugs seven years ago.”

He got a job at St. Vincent de Paul in Coeur d’Alene, where he met Keillor, a recovering alcoholic. And after a lengthy pursuit, Haller said laughing, the two started dating. They’ve been together for more than four years now.

“We’re both products of the men’s and women’s shelter of St. Vincent,” Keillor explained, while surrounded in her new living room-dining room by volunteers, friends and their new neighbors, many with similar stories to tell. Today, she said, “is a blessing. We’ve been in the program for two-and-a-half years and it’s all come together.”

“Thanks to St. Vincent de Paul, I have money in my pocket and a roof over my family’s heads,” Haller said. “So many doors have opened for us, I wouldn’t trade my worse days now for my best days back then.”

Neighbor Lillian Askin, whose own home was worked on by the family, said the residents of Millard Place share a communal bond unlike anywhere else. “It’s awesome, the whole neighborhood is awesome. We’re just a big family,” she said.