Beavers and her three daughters are the latest family to receive a house through the Isabella County Habitat for Humanity program.

Her youngest daughter’s preschool initially asked Beavers if she was interested in applying for the program.

“I’m a single mom of three who always rented, but it’s so expensive to rent,” she said.

After some consideration Beavers decided to go ahead and fill out the form. After being selected as a finalist there were three interviews Beavers completed.

The first was easy going, while the second was very intense because it concerned finances, Beavers said.

“The third was when they told me I got the home,” she said. “I cried.”

Edwina Clark, Office Manager for the Isabella County Habitat for Humanity said she hopes the family can be moved into their house by the end of this month or early September.

For the first time Habitat partnered with Mount Pleasant High School to construct a house.

“This is the first time we have done this, but other habitats have,” Clark said. “With a high school that has a construction program we thought what better way to teach kids about building safe and affordable homes.”

The high school has an interior design class, electrical and plumbing class and building class that worked on the home.

Beavers’ daughters were especially happy to work with the interior design class.

“They could tell them what they liked,” she said. “Then the class made them boards with swatches and color schemes for their rooms.”

The family also got to pick the floor plan, light fixtures, floor and almost everything else, said Beavers.

Although the family was heavily involved in design aspects, helping with construction was difficult because the school’s liability, volunteers couldn’t work with students.

Instead Beavers and her daughters would sweep after the students finished working or do things like mow the lawn. When school was done for the summer the family was able to paint and put up dry wall.

Even though the tasks were small, Beavers said the work had a big impact.

“I think it makes you appreciate your house a bit more,” she said.

Clark said she hopes to continue to partner with the high school, but with some tweaks.

In the future Habitat hopes to allow the students to work on the home during the week and let other volunteers come in to finish up larger projects on the weekends, Clark said.

Beavers and her daughters have been living with her parents since October 2010. She is thankful for all their help, but is ready to move into her new home.

“I can’t wait to have a place of my own,” she said. “This is the first time ever my kids will have a room of their own and it’s just really exciting for them.”

The Williamston senior is a member of Bike & Build, an organization dedicated to building houses across the country, and will contribute to Habitat for Humanity construction projects along his nationwide bicycle trip.

Over eight seasons, Bike & Build has contributed more than $2.7 million to housing groups to fund projects planned and executed by students. This includes more than $490,000 donated from the summer of 2010.

“Each person on our estimated 30-person team is preparing by raising money for the cause,” Slider said. “The money will go toward building equipment, wood, supplies and the overall cost of the trip.”

The team will bike from 40 to 100 miles daily starting at 6 a.m. and going until they are ready to rest or hit the next building site, Slider said.

“I think it’s great that students from CMU are participating in this,” said Monroe senior Sarah Bialecki. ”I just wish there were more publicity. It would reach out to so many different students.”

Slider said the primary purpose of the trip is to help build affordable housing for those who cannot afford it. He has given several presentations on affordable living, hoping to spread the word for the cause.

Troy sophomore John Loafman said it is a smart idea to get the group together for a summer of good deeds.

“I think it’s very cool that they are doing this, especially with the economy today,” he said. “There are a ton of foreclosures out there so people are in need of affordable housing.”

Slider is a cyclist for the Triathlon Club at Central Michigan University. He is looking forward to traveling across the country and meeting new people.

“This experience is going to be super rewarding,” he said. “It’s great to know that I’m doing this on my power and there are going to be so many different people I get to meet on this trip across the country.”

And in a few months, Sarah and her three children will move into their new house, thanks to the Isabella County Habitat for Humanity. Both homecomings have the Shepherd resident grinning from ear to ear.

Overcoming and continuing to face illness is something Sarah and her children have become familiar with.

It first crept into their lives when Sarah’s second child, Rachel, 9, was born. Sarah knew something was wrong and took the baby to a doctor for testing when she was four months old.

“She had failure to thrive, cried all the time and just wasn’t growing,” Lukens said. “They did the tests and they came back positive for cystic fibrosis.”

Rachel was in the hospital for two weeks, but as soon as she started medication her condition improved. She started growing and is now in the hundredth percentile for her age.

However, things aren’t always easy and special steps are required to keep Rachel healthy. About every other year, Rachel has a hospital stay in Grand Rapids to clean out her system.

A rock and a hard place

But the Lukens’ family’s health issues didn’t end with cystic fibrosis.

Sarah Lukens and her daughter Rachel help William read the award he received in his class. (Photo by Kaitlin Thoresen/Staff Photographer)

Around the sixth month of her pregnancy with her son, William, Sarah was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. AML is a fast-progressing leukemia, requiring treatment within weeks of diagnosis for survival.

Because of the AML, an early cesarean section could not be performed or Sarah would bleed to death. She had no other choice but to begin chemotherapy while pregnant.

“I was worried about the baby, but I had two other kids that also needed their mom,” Sarah said. “I had to do it for them.”

In January, three months after her diagnosis, Sarah gave birth to William, now 7, who was perfectly healthy. Sarah continued treatments and was soon in remission, but eventually relapsed. She would require a bone marrow transplant and a stay in the Detroit Medical Center.

Sarah is now more than five years post-cancer.

“Everyone is great now,” Sarah said. “I thank God every day for the health of everyone in my family.”

A helping hand

Health is not the only thing the Lukens are thankful for these days.

About two years ago, Sarah ran into an old co-worker, Edwina Clark.

Clark, Office Manager for the Isabella County Habitat for Humanity, told Sarah about a home that had been given back to the organization. The committee was trying to find a family to live in the house and Clark invited Sarah to apply.

“It’s a six-page application with a lot of financial questions,” Clark said. “The applicant is then chosen by the selection committee of about seven to eight people.”

The committee first approves the application and then conducts two to three interviews with the applicant and family.

The Lukens’ family was chosen to be a Habitat family after completing the process, but did not receive the home Clark originally told Sarah about.

After looking further into that house, mold was found in the basement. Because of Rachel’s cystic fibrosis, they could not live there.

“They saw a need for a clean house for Rachel,” Sarah said. “By myself, I couldn’t give Rachel a mold and dust-free house.”

With Rachel’s condition, the family had always needed a new house, but it was beyond affordability. Habitat for Humanity could solve that problem.

My dent, my house

Costs are kept down because of volunteers that build the house.

The land it is built on is often donated or purchased inexpensively, though it still factors into the mortgage. Plumbing, electrical and mechanical work is usually contracted out, but Lukens had family and friends that were willing to do that work on her house.

Sarah said she was in shock of how giving people have been.

As part of the program, Sarah is also required to put 250 hours of equity into the organization. Those hours can be spent working on her own home, other projects or working at the Habitat Restore.

“We like to call this a hand up, not a hand out,” Clark said.

Sarah has no problem with the equity requirements. She said sometimes people take things for granted if they do not put in the work because they are not as invested.

“I put a dent on the back wall trying to hammer in a nail,” she said. “That’s my dent, and that’s my house.”

The house, located in Shepherd, is scheduled to be completed by the end of February or early March.

The Grand Haven senior will participate in the 2010 “Bike and Build,” an annual cross-country biking fundraiser from May 19 to July 31.

Dyke will travel 3,860 miles from Virginia Beach, Va. to Cannon Beach, Ore. with 30 other volunteer cyclists.

“Decent, affordable housing is a cause I’m really passionate about,” Dyke said.

The trip also will include several “build days,” where participants will work on houses along the way. Each person is required to raise $4,000, which will be donated to affordable housing causes like Habitat for Humanity.

Dyke bikes to and from her classes, but the national trek will be a completely different experience.

“I’ve never challenged myself this much before physically,” she said.

Grand Haven senior Kristen Dyke plans to bike 3,860 miles this summer to raise money for the Bike and Build program. Bike and Build's mission is to raise money for affordable housing. Over seven seasons, Bike & Build has contributed $2,305,345 to housing groups. (Matthew Stephens/Senior Photographer)

Dyke said she could not imagine a better way to spend her summer vacation.

John Mauro, a math teacher and adviser of the InterAct club at Grand Haven High School — where Dyke graduated — was not surprised.

“Kristen is one of the most amazing individuals I’ve ever met in my entire life,” Mauro said. “She is relentless about serving, learning, understanding and figuring out how she can make a difference, and doing it.”

Changing others

Dyke’s service does not end with her own contributions.

She was an inspiration to her friend and roommate Summer Dubois. Dyke introduced Dubois, a Remus junior, to the Isabella County Animal Shelter, 1105 S. Isabella Road.

She started working there three years ago and is now a volunteer coordinator.

“She helped me discover my passion for service,” Dubois said. “I definitely wouldn’t be volunteering today if it wasn’t for Kristen.”

Dyke’s faith is a strong influence in her charity work.

She said she is a dedicated Christian and attends services at His House Christian Fellowship, 211 W. Broomfield St.

“I believe to love God is to love others,” she said.

One of her favorite memories is teaching in Peru in August 2008.

She and other alumni from the GHHS InterAct Club helped impoverished schools and played with the children.

They taught English and brought toys, but she said the most significant part was showing the kids there is someone out there who cares.

Dyke is looking forward to getting to know her fellow cyclists and working for a good cause across the continental United States.

“I can’t wait to see the country in such a unique way,” she said.

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.