MOUNT VERNON — A food nutritionist, HVAC technician and construction worker. A grandmother, self-employed single mom and substance abuse counselor.
Knox Community Hospital, Mount Vernon Nazarene University and realty employees.
These are the faces of home ownership in a joint housing project on Columbus Road.
Habitat for Humanity Knox County and the Knox County Land Bank dedicated three new homes last month, the latest milestone in a 12-home housing initiative.
The timing coincides with National Home Ownership Month, observed each June. More dedications will follow over the next few weeks.
“For the families moving into these homes on Columbus Road, homeownership means getting off the hamster wheel of renting and beginning to build something of their own,” said Sam Filkins, president of the Land Bank.
“Owning a home comes with responsibility, but it’s work that benefits you, your family, and potentially future generations as you build equity and create lasting roots in the community.”
Volunteers also celebrated the delivery of two modular homes on Centennial Street, the final two homes in the project. Habitat Executive Director Terry Schulz expects crews to complete the modulars by October.
“As the United States of America prepares to celebrate its 250th year, home ownership remains one of the most tangible threads connecting the country’s founding ideals to everyday life,” Schulz said.
“The notion that anyone, regardless of birth or background, could work, save, and eventually own a piece of land and a home of their own was radical when the nation was founded — and it’s still central to how many Americans define the American Dream today.”
Accessing the dream
Apartment living was the norm for Danielle and Braden King. But with two active boys age 6 and 7, it was not ideal.
Owning their own home, with a bedroom for the boys and a back yard where they can play, is, as Braden put it, “better than Christmas.”
“This is something we’ve been talking about for years and just never got around to being able to traditionally do it. Being able to have Habitat help, it’s amazing,” he said.
Danielle agreed, saying the family is a normal, medium-income family doing what it can.
“It’s amazing. It’s starting a whole new chapter.”
Danielle King
“We’re everyday folks working and paying bills and taking care of raising a family,” she said.
“I thought we’d be at least 40 before we were stable enough to get approved for a home loan because it’s so hard to get a traditional loan, and it’s hard to afford a house nowadays.
“So we never thought we’d be at this point where we’re standing in our house.”
Schulz said America still wrestles with challenges with affordability, housing supply and generational wealth gaps.
“But the aspiration itself has proven durable. It’s one of the few ideas that has spanned the entire arc of the country’s history, evolving with each generation while still capturing something essential about what people hope this country can offer them,” he said.
Home ownership: a consistent dream
For Brandon and Taylor Lang, the most exciting thing about moving into their Columbus Road house is not more space or a yard, although they appreciate those aspects of home ownership.
“It’s having a place to call ours,” Brandon said at the 2024 “Rock the Block” event celebrating the project. “Something we can actually call home.”
“To walk in and feel like you’re at home,” Taylor said. “I don’t think you feel like that in our apartment.”
The Kings came from an apartment that lacked closets.
“Not a coat closet, nothing. So to actually have somewhere to put stuff is going to be wild to me. That I can put stuff in other places besides totes stacked in the corner of my bedroom,” Danielle said.
The family has not met any neighbors. However, they are excited about the family with two younger children who will move into the Habitat house next door.
“There’s an unspoken comfort that comes with knowing the place you live is yours. It’s being able to paint a room, plant a tree, make improvements, or simply know that if you put time and effort into your home, you’re doing it for yourself and your family,” Filkins said.
“That kind of stability is something homeownership can provide, and it’s why creating opportunities for more families to own a home is so important.”
Schulz said that although the specifics of home ownership have shifted, the underlying idea has remained consistent.
“A home isn’t just shelter. It’s a stake in the country’s future, a symbol of stability, independence, and the belief that hard work should be rewarded with the chance to build something lasting,” he said.
A time to celebrate
Theresa Cobb moved from Louisiana to Mount Vernon in 2016 to live with her son.
The family has grown to include two grandsons, age 13 and 8, who share a room.
“So it’s a little bit crowded,” Cobb.
She credited Fredericktown Head Start co-worker Susan Kent for suggesting Cobb apply for her Madison Avenue home.
“I was surprised [I was accepted], but it was God’s timing,” Cobb said.
To Cobb, home ownership means being able to care for others. The family is into sports, and particularly volleyball.
“I’m hoping to be able to have them, like on the 4th of July, over to fellowship. Now that I have a place, I can do that,” she said. “Because I know how hard it can be when you’re not around your family or you’re away from home.”
Filkins said home ownership isn’t the right solution for every housing need but said the land bank prioritizes projects that create opportunities for families to own a home whenever possible.
“Strong neighborhoods are built by people who are invested in their community, and home ownership is one of the most powerful ways to foster that long-term commitment,” he said.
A community partnership
As each family accepted the keys to their new home, they also accepted a Welcome Basket. The basket includes:
•Flowers so the home may always know beauty.
•A loaf of bread so the house may never know hunger.
•Salt so their lives will always have flavor.
•A candle so the house will never know darkness.
•Sugar so that life will always be sweet.
•A Bible to remind families of the love of God, family, neighbors, and friends — known and unknown — who helped them achieve the dream of owning a home.
Filkins acknowledged the multiple partnerships which brought the project together.
“But it doesn’t work if we don’t have a family that’s willing to be a partner with us,” he said.
“Anyone can have a house, but it’s up to you to make it a home,” he told the new homeowners.
Schulz said the home ownership dream bridges political parties and is still the American dream.
“These 12 homes along Columbus Road won’t solve the housing problem in Knox County,” he said.
“But, together with partnerships like this one with the Land Bank, Knox County Foundation, State of Ohio and so many more, we’re making a difference for these families, and for the South Vernon neighborhood — a change we’re looking forward to seeing the effects of for generations to come.”
