Evergreen Habitat for Humanity dedicates conjoined homes to single-mother friends

Clive Rainey, who more than 40 years ago became Habitat for Humanity’s first volunteer, spoke to dozens of local volunteers Sunday in Vancouver. During his comments, in front of two homes the volunteers had recently built, he mentioned a few themes: strength, grit, new life, hard work, safety and affordability.

“This house will be a fortress for this family, the place from which they go forth to fight the battles, if you will, of their lives,” Rainey said. “You have passed those qualities on to these young people, who will now add those qualities to your great community.”

Rainey, visiting the area after a trip to Southeast Asia, was one of dozens Sunday afternoon who helped dedicate two homes in the Father Blanchet Park neighborhood to low-income families.

The conjoined homes are the seventh and eighth ones Evergreen Habitat for Humanity has built on Southeast 77th Court in the past two years. Construction on the newest additions began in August and required 9,052 hours from 569 volunteers, including some from Faith Build, a group of 19 faith communities.

The homes cost roughly $225,000 each to build, said Amy Lodholz, Evergreen Habitat’s development director. More than 20 organizations gave money for the projects.

The city of Vancouver also provided two $50,000 loans from its Affordable Housing Fund, Lodholz said.

All of the money, laboring and time was aimed at securing permanent housing for the Robles and Villard families. Both Leticia Robles and Paulie Villard are single mothers who were unable to afford homes after leaving relationships several years ago.

Villard has lived locally about five years. She has spent a large chunk of that time residing in her sister’s garage while working at the Vancouver Clinic.

Villard, 43, applied to the Evergreen Habitat program about two years ago.

“It’s a long process,” Villard said. “A lot of people said, ‘How could you wait?’ You know what you’re working for and it goes by quickly.”

Now she will finally be able to move into the home with her daughter Licia, 9.

“Basically, just, ‘Wow,’” Villard said of her mindset when first entering the home Sunday. “I feel so fortunate because there are so many people to thank. I hope we can somehow give back as much as we’ve been given.”

Villard and Robles met two years ago at an Evergreen Habitat orientation, and a friendship began. When the organization reached out to the women about the housing opportunity a few months ago, they both insisted that the other be given first priority, said Melissa Edwards, the organization’s family services manager.

“We just hit it off,” Villard said. “In some ways, we have a lot in common. In some ways, we’re very, very different.”

Regardless of their backgrounds, they’re now next-door neighbors, which is exactly how they wanted it, Robles said.

Robles immigrated to the U.S. in 1992 and became a permanent resident in 2016. After an 11-year marriage ended in divorce, Robles was forced to stay in a shelter with her young children for several months. She was able to find a job in Portland as well as a small apartment in Kelso.

Now closer to work, Robles, 48, has a new, permanent home. She was given the keys Sunday with her daughters Marylu Robles, 10, and Rebeca Rodriguez, 13, along with their dog, Ostito.

“It’s my American dream,” Robles said. “This is fate.”

One of the volunteers who helped make that possible was Doug Corso. Corso, 68, of Hazel Dell, was one of 14 “regulars” who would spend at least one day each week building the house. Many of the volunteers, like Corso, are retirees, he said.

“I think we share, kind of, a common motivation,” Corso said. “Everything has been a blessing, and now its time to give back.”

Corso has been volunteering with Evergreen Habitat more than four years, while others have more than 10 years behind them. While the weather Sunday was sunny and dry, the volunteers spent a lot of time the past few months dealing with cold, mud, water and snow.

The sunny day, the likes of which have been rare lately, symbolized the mood of Corso and his fellow volunteers.

“This is what the volunteers call pay day,” Corso said. “That’s the feeling you get that makes it all worthwhile.”

Volunteers will now work on two more houses in another part of the court. With work already begun, the projects will likely be completed in the next seven to eight months, Evergreen Habitat spokeswoman Heather Cohcrun said.