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Thank you, Bill & Angela for using 2roofs Real Estate to help buy and sell your home! You have helped people like Linda the ability to work with Habitat for Humanity to build a safe home for her and her family.
Located 25 miles southeast of Bellingham, Washington, the rural town of Acme is nestled in the South Fork Valley between the North Cascades and Lake Whatcom. In the winter of 1975, Acme gained Linda & her family when they moved into what were two former bunkhouses joined together to make one dwelling. The bunkhouse-based house, built in the 1920s as part of the expanding timber industry in the South Fork Valley, is where Linda has lived for 43 years.
She had always dreamed of traveling to Europe, especially to Greece. “I wanted to travel. I had the money saved in the bank. But my husband worried it would be too hard for us to find a house if we went traveling after the end of our commercial fishing season. One summer we had a really bad season, and my husband had to sell his boat. We had to make a choice, so we bought the bunk-house instead of traveling.”
Like many pioneers, Linda’s entire life has embodied strength and self-reliance. After years of working hard in the commercial fishing industry, she became a school bus driver, driving children to and from schools in Kendall, Harmony, and Acme for 27 years.
The years haven’t been kind to Linda’s cobbled-together house or to her health. The damp North Cascades mountain climate has, over the years, reduced the structural integrity of Linda’s 1920s house to near collapse. Deep moss covers the disintegrating roof. Decay and deterioration have made routine maintenance impossible. Living so many years in an increasingly unlivable house has compromised her health.
“My old house should have come down a long time ago. I was talking about buying a modular home. Then, while talking with my pastor, she said, ‘Why don’t you try Habitat?’ I’d heard about Habitat but didn’t know that much about it. I didn’t think I had a chance because I’m older. I thought it was just for someone who was raising a family.
“I started out going to a class at Lowe’s, to learn how to use some basic construction tools. Then I went to Habitat’s Lowe’s Women Build Day out on Telegraph Road. I couldn’t do much because I had just had back surgery. But I made food for everyone and did what I could. Then I started working in the Habitat Store. I had to have 500 hours of sweat equity. I believe I have 1,500 hours now. The store staff is really friendly and genuine.”
Construction began on her new home in 2018. Throughout construction, the old front porch has been the scene of countless lunches with her volunteer work crews, neighbors, and well-wishers. “When Habitat started building my home, it was getting cold. So I made a pot of soup and told the guys that they didn’t have to hang out outside. There was no building out there then. I knew it was going to get colder, so I invited them up here to the porch. That’s been the really fun part for me.
“I love the people who’ve worked on my home. They’re like another family.”
Linda’s new, warm home will be finished in February 2019. Complete with passive insulation, triple-pane windows, an air-to-air heat-exchange system, and solar panels, her new home embodies Habitat’s mission to build “net-zero-ready” homes.
Neighbors helping neighbors. “I believe in helping other people. It takes a busload of faith. I really believe in the Habitat mission. I’m very grateful for everything I’m getting.”
2roofs' Realtors work hard to make your home buying or selling experience enjoyable and give part of every commission to help house a person in need. Let us know how we can help with your real estate needs.