On Friday, January 5th, Habitat for Humanity of Washington and Dodge Counties held a home dedication for their 48th home. The family that purchased the home arrived to receive their keys and was greeted by the Habitat staff, board members, and volunteers that built the home this past year. This is the third family to purchase a Habitat home in West Bend this past year. Habitat’s construction team is led by Paul Piechowski, Director of Programming. As a volunteer assisted organization, the build site was visited by people from businesses, churches, and organizations all over Washington county this year. Habitat’s Homeownership program assists families that earn between 30% and 50% of the median household income in Washington and Dodge Counties. Each new homeowner then spends 250 hours volunteering with the organization called “sweat equity” while their home is being built. What makes this program sustainable is the use of volunteers and donations that keep the cost lower and providing a 0% interest loan for the family to pay back in a manageable timeframe. All mortgage payments that come into the affiliate are invested in the Fund for Humanity which assists in funding each new home the affiliate builds.