Florida Catholic | Holy Spirit Builds House

Parish builds Habitat house for displaced family

After Hurricane Ivan destroyed their home in 2004, the Burt family was living in a truck-bed size camper until Holy Spirit parishioners went to work to build a new home for the family.

PEGGY DEKEYSER | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PENSACOLA-TALLAHASSEE BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 11.23.07

Rosa Herman of Holy Spirit Parish presents Josh and Casey Burt with a Bible on the day their new Habitat for Humanity home was blessed by Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ.

PEGGY DEKEYSER | FC
Rosa Herman of Holy Spirit Parish presents Josh and Casey Burt with a Bible on the day their new Habitat for Humanity home was blessed by Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ.

PENSACOLA | The three young children were so accustomed to the cramped camper in which they had been living that they were frightened by the amount of space the first few nights they spent in their new Habitat for Humanity house sponsored and built by Holy Spirit Parish.

“The first night here, my little girls were scared because they were used to being so close to us at night,” said Casey Burt, mother of three and new homeowner. Jasmine, who is 2, crept out of bed in the room she shares with her sister, Jordan, 13 months, to sleep in the confined space beneath her bed that first night, because it felt more familiar. “We had an awful time finding her, but she’s getting used to it now,” Burt said two weeks after they moved in.

The family of five, Casey and her husband Jason, the two little girls and older brother Holden, 5, had been staying in the camper designed to fit on the back of a pickup. Sans truck, the camper was parked in Jason’s parents’ yard. The family had to go into the house for bathing and restroom facilities, a difficult task with toddlers. They lost their previous housing as a result of Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and have struggled for three years to regain a place of their own to call home.

Now, though, they are the proud new owners of the new three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot Habitat for Humanity house just north of Gulf Beach Highway in Warrington. Bishop John H. Ricard, SSJ, joined the family, their relatives and friends and members of Holy Spirit Parish for the blessing of the new home Nov. 4. Msgr. James Flaherty, pastor, and Holy Spirit parishioners who had participated in the build presented the Burts with a plaque depicting the Holy Spirit, a Bible, a hammer and the book of instructions, warranties and home maintenance information for their new house.

During the dedication ceremony, Bishop Ricard prayed that they would experience peace and happiness in their new home, and always be mindful of the presence of the Lord within their home and their lives.

To qualify for the home, one provision is that the homeowners must contribute 300 hours of labor in Habitat building projects.

“The Burts were out there working with our parish crews all the time,” said Holy Spirit project organizer Betty Evans. “They just worked so hard. So did our parishioners. We had exceptional support from the parish. I’m very proud to have participated.”

So good was the support from the parish that on several of the building days, there were too many workers and some were diverted to other Habitat building sites.

For more information on how to participate in Habitat for Humanity building projects, call 850-434-5456 or visit www.pensacolahabitat.org.

Betty Salter, president of Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, said at the dedication that Catholic parishes in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties have had a significant impact on Habitat for Humanity. “We rank sixth in the nation out of 1,700 Habitat organizations for the number of homes we’ve built here — over 500 homes. We’re so grateful for the Catholic churches that regularly come forward to sponsor and help build homes. Our mission of providing safe, decent housing has been greatly advanced by the generosity of your churches,” she told Bishop Ricard and Msgr. Flaherty.

St. Rose of Lima in Milton and Good Shepherd in Tallahassee are undertaking their first builds, while Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, St. Ann and Our Lady of the Assumption are veteran homebuilders. To that end, Holy Spirit elected to begin building another Habitat for Humanity house in the spring, Msgr. Flaherty told Salter on the day of the dedication.

“Our parish was hit hard by Hurricane Ivan. Parishioners know what it’s like to lose homes to storms. I think that’s why this work is so important to our parish,” he said.

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Parish builds Habitat house for displaced family

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