CAPE CORAL, Fla. — Transforming a house into a home is sentimental, especially with your own two hands.
Stephanie Bergerson is a single mom with five kids; she’s one of two moms receiving a house from Women Build, a group made up of women in Habitat for Humanity in Lee and Hendry County.
Stephanie cries as she thinks about the future her family has in their new home.
“This home for us, for my kids more than anything, means stability. It means we never have to move again — and it’s our forever home,” she said.
As she looks around, Stephanie can’t believe women used their weekends to help her finish her future home. Sandy Collins, a volunteer, went even a step further and used her two weeks paid vacation from work to help finish the job.
Sandy says the all-women group is empowering.
“We’ve got women doing all of the painting, women doing all of the ceilings, everything that we do pretty much is women. We use a guy here and there when we need some muscle power — but it’s all done by women, and so it’s that much more rewarding just because we know that we accomplished it for another woman,” she said.
With the help of sponsors, Women Build raised almost $243,000 to build the two homes for the moms.
Stephanie counts down the days until her family can call the comfort of their new house, a home.
“Habitat has given us hope. It feels amazing as a single mom to be able to give that to my children,” she said.
