Residents celebrate Habitat  for Humanity house in Xenia

One of the housewarming gifts was a patio stone made with broken glass and debris from the building site.

Sue Moning/Habitat for Humanity builds home One of the housewarming gifts was a patio stone made with broken glass and debris from the building site.

Tony Hulse (top left) and Greene County Commissioner Rick Perales raise the American flag at Hulses' home in Xenia, built by Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

Sue Moning/Habitat for Humanity builds home Tony Hulse (top left) and Greene County Commissioner Rick Perales raise the American flag at Hulses' home in Xenia, built by Habitat for Humanity volunteers.

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By Sue Moning, Contributing Writer 12:50 PM Thursday, November 12, 2009

XENIA — Jim and Barbara Hulse, and their son, Tony, have a new home thanks to the Greene County Habitat for Humanity.

The Hulse family officially moved into their house at 506 E. Main St. on Sunday, Nov. 8, as they welcomed friends and the volunteers for a celebration.

“I have made a lot of new friends,” Jim Hulse said to the group, “and I hope the friendships continue to grow more and more every day.”

The Hulses initially accepted gifts, the house keys and made their first mortgage payment during a ceremony at Zion Baptist Church, across the street from their new home.

After the celebration moved to the house, volunteers held a tree dedication ceremony, hoisted a new American flag on the front porch and opened the doors for a tour.

“There is a lot of us in the house,” said Roberta Shiverdecker, president of Greene County Habitat for Humanity.

The home was a joint project for Habitat and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a fraternal organization, which provided 65 percent of the funding for the house. Local Lutheran churches covered 10 percent and Habitat for Humanity the remaining 25 percent.

The Hulse family accepted gifts for the home, including a Bible, a Habitat-published cookbook, the flag, a toolbox and a basket of house-warming goods. They also received a concrete patio stone, decorated with bits of broken glass and other material collected at the home site prior to construction of the house.

The house is blue with white trim. It is the fourth Habitat house in a quarter-mile stretch of East Main Street in Xenia, Shiverdecker said.

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