Friends, soon next-door neighbors

The Baltimore Sun

They've been friends since high school. They've watched over each other's children. And they'll soon be next-door neighbors in homes built for them through Habitat for Humanity.

Nichole Keys and Lucille Council, both single mothers, will move into their three-bedroom homes along a quiet Aberdeen street next month.

Wearing a hard hat and a T-shirt reading "I am too blessed to be stressed," Council celebrated her 42nd birthday last week watching her new kitchen come together. "I finally will have a home to call my own, not just a house," she said.

She has packed and is planning the color scheme. She envisions a wallpaper border above the oak cabinets.

"I will have lots of cabinets and no junk drawer," she said. "I only want nice stuff for my house."

Keys, 38, works two jobs to support her two daughters and niece, but she was never able to afford a home. Her daughter Nichelle, 12, saw a blurb about Habitat's efforts to find homes and called the organization's Bel Air office - without telling her mother.

"We were looking for a home, so I just called and asked them for one," Nichelle said. "Now we get to live next door to my mom's friend."

Families must meet income requirements, have good credit and the ability to pay low-interest mortgages to qualify for Habitat's programs.

Habitat for Humanity, founded in 1976, typically provides the land, house plans and the foundation.

Prospective owners must show a willingness to help out.

The program includes a "sweat equity" component that requires participants to devote 400 hours to Habitat projects, exclusive of their homes.

"Talk about motivation! These incredible ladies promised to do whatever necessary to get their homes," said Joann Blewett, executive director of Harford's Habitat chapter. "Nichole gave 10 hours before she was even selected."

And, when she was selected, Keys went straight to her daughter's school to deliver the news.

Nichelle plans to paint her bedroom pink and purple. Her future next-door neighbor, Nastassia Cain, 16, Council's daughter and Nichole Keys' godchild, is going for neon colors, she said.

"I already have a lime-green teddy bear," Nastassia said. "This is a wonderful birthday present for my mom and an early graduation present for me."

Keys and Council and their daughters donated 800 hours of labor to Habitat projects.

"I painted, hammered where they told me, and taped," Nastassia said. "It actually was fun, but it's not something I would want to go into when I graduate."

Nastassia, a rising senior at Aberdeen High School, plans to study business and eventually own a company.

Construction is often handled by volunteers, but the Harford chapter of Habitat has found a skilled partner in Pulte Homes, which undertook its second annual building blitz last week.

"These are both hardworking families who deserve to have the American dream of a home," said Arlen Janet, vice president of Pulte Homes.

The national homebuilder constructed the two homes in less than five days, fulfilling a promise to repeat its 2006 blitz. Crews built two nearly-1,100-square-foot semidetached, ranch-style homes.

"Even in a down time in housing, Pulte saw the need and helped us again," Blewett said.

Dave Gutman, job foreman, heard no complaints about 12-hour days and crowded conditions for electricians, plumbers and drywallers all working simultaneously.

Neighbors have stopped by to welcome the families. "It has been nothing but nice," Council said.

mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com

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