Thanks to the efforts of Dartmouth students, single mother Marlene DeNutte has a new home to call her own.
At a ceremony yesterday, Dartmouth Habitat for Humanity dedicated its first independently-built home. Construction on the home, which is located in Enfield, N.H., began in July and was complete by mid-February.
The home has been called "The '04 House" in recognition of the efforts of current juniors, who supplied a great deal of the labor for its construction during their sophomore summer. Organizers emphasized that members of many other classes and community groups participated in the endeavor.
"Lots of different organizations helped out," Tucker Foundation Community Services Coordinator Anne Sosin '02 said. "It was really a full community effort."
The house was built for DeNutte and her family, who moved in when work on the house concluded. DeNutte is currently working as a nurse in the Hanover area. She has two children, Deven, 6, and Morgan, 4, and was selected to live in the house from a candidate pool of 16 families.
Dartmouth Habitat had supervised the construction of houses in the past, but always with the aid of the Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity. According to Sosin, the current group of College undergraduates exclusively organized the construction.
"The group now has the resources and capacity to take on a home of their own," Sosin said.
Students in the class of 2005 plan to start work on another house during this coming Summer term.
"Dartmouth Habitat has plans to make this a tradition," Sosin said.
The house cost $90,000 to build. Initial funding and support -- including $30,000 of seed money -- came from the Tucker Foundation. Area businesses and non-profit grants provided a great deal of further financial backing, supplemented by fund-raising events and letter-writing campaigns.
Members of other Dartmouth bodies donated their time and expertise, according a College press release. Employees of Facilities Operations and Management assembled the plumbing and heating systems, Environmental Health and Safety contributed protection equipment and sundry Greek organizations lent their labor. In total, over 250 undergraduates worked on the home.
The Dartmouth Habitat also hired a professional site supervisor who is a retired employee of FO&M.
