Berg Family Home For Christmas Rhonda Berg And Her Kids Move Into House Donated By Habitat, Wwp, Wtb

Last week, Rhonda Berg was busy sending out Christmas cards with her new address. She was planning Christmas dinner for her family and some friends.

Her children couldn’t help but glance and smile at the jolly green Christmas tree standing tall in the living room.

It’s their first Christmas in their very own home, thanks to Habitat for Humanity and thousands of hours of sweat and labor donated by Washington Water Power and Washington Trust Bank.

WWP donated the land on the North Side, near Audubon Elementary School, for the house in memory of Jimmie Dean, the 32-year-old lineman who died during last year’s ice storm. Berg and her three children moved into the house exactly a year after the Nov. 21 accident.

“I feel like I’m home,” Berg said recently, looking at the boxes of Christmas ornaments waiting to be hung. The tree and several boxes of ornaments were donated by the Spokane Rotary Club.

“I’m setting down roots. I’m going to live here 20 years at least,” she said.

Setting roots seems especially important to the family that has moved from rental home to rental home during the past few years, struggling to make ends meet.

Somewhere among the many moves, the children’s Christmas stockings were lost. But even without the stockings, Christmas is already better than it was last year, when the family didn’t even have a tree.

Son Josh, 10, carefully hung the first ornament on the tree this year, front and center.

He had earned points in class for good work and as a reward he was allowed to choose a toy from the teacher’s treat box. His eye landed immediately on the Christmas tree ornament.

He dashed home after school to put it in place.

While Berg talks about Christmas plans, youngsters dash in and out of the house, laughing and playing. Aaron Berg, 7, races through the house. Their new puppy, Taz, follows at his heels.

Sasha, the baby of the family, sits in the kitchen with her mom. The toddler has new shoes she loves so much, she refuses to let anyone take them off her feet. Even at naptime.

Berg smiles at the ruckus around her.

“They have more friends here than they’ve ever had,” she said. “We’ve been blessed,” she added. “I can hardly believe it - a house of our own, and all these people who want to help us.”

Dia Hadley, executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Spokane, said housing is a basic ingredient in helping families reach firm financial footing.

The Berg’s new three-bedroom, one-bath house is the first step toward stability.

The house was built in four months by 400 volunteers donating 2,500 hours of work.

The project was supervised by Clive Barry, a retired florist who has now worked on six Habitat houses in Spokane.

It took almost two years for Berg to realize her dream of having her own home. After signing up for the program and being accepted, she was required to save $1,000 for closing costs and volunteer 500 hours for the Habitat for Humanity program. She did most of the work in the office, taking care of mailings and other routine jobs. Berg also attended workshops on budgeting, legal issues and house maintenance and repair.

“Working for a home, and succeeding, opens the door for more success,” said Hadly. “When you see one dream come true, it helps you work toward a couple more.

“Almost all the families that started with us are self-sufficient and working.”

Berg’s next goal is to pass her GED and go back to school to study computer drafting.

She hopes to be working a full-time job within two years.

However, at the moment, she’s planning Christmas dinner, “for basically the first time ever.” The menu will include turkey, creamed onions, pumpkin pie and chocolate cream pie.

The Rotary Club also volunteered to play Santa Claus for the family, making sure there are presents under the tree.

The children’s wish list was short: virtual pets, warm coats and - Josh hardly dares even whisper his wish - “A Nintendo 64,” he says, barely loud enough to hear.

And what does mom want?

Rhonda Berg smiles.

“I just want my kids to have a good Christmas,” she said. “I already got my present. I got my house.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo