ROSEBUSH — The Mount Pleasant and Central Michigan University communities are coming together to help a local soldier’s family.

Volunteers are teaming with the local Habitat for Humanity to build a house for Jason and Amanda Baird on Monroe Street in Rosebush and make up volunteer hours the family cannot maintain.

“The Habitat requires anyone in the family that is 18 years or older to put in 250 equity hours on the building of the house,” Clark said. “Jason was naturally distraught because he wouldn’t be able to put his 250 hours in, and was worried his family would lose the house.”

But Jason Baird is part of the armed forces and was deployed to Iraq, said Office Manager of Habitat Edwina Clark. And Amanda Baird has been putting her time in with the house, but finds it hard with two kids, said site supervisor Jamie Smith.

Mount Pleasant resident Corey Snow works on a new Habitat for Humanity House in Rosebush. The house is being built for Jason and Amanda Baird and will be completed in November. (Neil Blake/Senior Photographer)

There have been about 45 to 50 people out to volunteer with more to come, Smith said. The Baird family waited more than a year to get a house.

“The Habitat felt Jason was definitely putting his hours in by serving our country,” Clark said. “We’ve been trying to recruit other local military veterans to volunteer to help build the house in honor of Jason’s departure.”

Construction began in late July and is expected to complete in November.

“So far, progress on the house is going smoothly and is right on schedule,” Smith said.

Volunteer work includes help from the Michigan Works Association, a member of the American Legion, a couple construction contractors, a few CMU student groups and Richard Clark, the construction chairman for the Habitat, Smith said.

“My job is to guide and instruct all of the volunteers on the site,” Smith said. “It hasn’t been a difficult process to find volunteers for this project.”

The Habitat gets its funding for equipment and materials from donations they received throughout the years, Clark said.

“We have been a small local affiliate for 20 years, so we’ve gotten many donations through fundraising,” she said.

Michigan Works also is helping with the Rosebush house project.

“Through state stimulus money, Michigan Works hired 18 to 24 men to help work on the house,” Smith said.

The Habitat for Humanity chapter at CMU helped a great deal with the Rosebush project, and plans to continue, Smith said.

E-mail the author: Chelsea White