Falls Village
New home from Habitat, completed with Lights and love
By KAREN BARTOMIOLI
12/18

FALLS VILLAGE — “I have a kitchen! For the first time in 10 years, I have a real kitchen.” In all the thanks and songs and prayer at the dedication of a new Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut home Saturday, Dec. 13, those words by new homeowner Leslee Light were perhaps the most telling.

To be able to fix a meal for her family in a pretty, snug, well-appointed kitchen is something that will bring her great joy, she said.

She spoke of all the love and support her family received as they helped build their new home. She was encouraged and inspired by having the chance to see such good in people, especially the children, she said. There were the fourth-graders at Salisbury Central School, who held a benefit to raise funds for the house earlier this year. Housatonic Valley Regional High School students have spent many a morning before school working on projects such as landscaping.

Neighbors helping neighbors

And then there were her own three children, Kathryn, 11, Noah, 10, and Maya, 8. They were patient and understanding through the months devoted to putting the required “sweat equity” into their new home. (Habitat partner families help to build their own homes, side by side with the volunteers.)

She ended her “thank you” words by looking at her husband, over the heads of their three children, and saying, “Dinnie, I love you. Thank you.”

The white-shingled, single-story house, with mullioned windows and French doors to the deck, is set on a level yard carved out of a hillside above the Housatonic River on River Road. It doesn’t quite have a certificate of occupancy, and the well water needs to be tested and cleared.

“But we’ll get it,” Dinnie said. “We’re going to start moving some of our things in tomorrow.”

Indeed, before the celebration was over, Leslee was making plans with a friend who could borrow a truck to help with the move from their North Canaan apartment, and talking to a staff member at the Lee H. Kellogg School about the best time to bring the children by for a visit. They will enroll at Kellogg after the Christmas break. Kathryn will join the sixth grade, Noah the fourth grade and Maya the third.

The house was done about six months behind schedule, but (almost miraculously) within budget despite the rising cost of building materials and fuel.

The saga of this new Habitat home, the seventh built in the Northwest Corner, indicates how crucial is the need for affordable housing here.

This home, built primarily with donated materials and labor, cost $150,000. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an L-shaped living room/dining room/kitchen area and a laundry/mud room. It is beautiful, but by no means extravagant.

Helping families remain here

“This is a great place to raise children, but our children can’t afford to buy a house here,“ said Tracy Atwood of Falls Village, a Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut board member, during the ceremony.

The house is not just a dream come true for the Lights. It is also another brick in the effort to preserve the small communities of this rural area, and to provide housing for people who provide essential services. Leslee is a special education paraprofessional at Salisbury Central School. Dinnie runs the North Canaan Transfer Station. He is a volunteer firefighter in North Canaan, and serves as the town’s civil preparedness coordinator.

They are the sort of family that keeps small towns such as these humming.

“It’s fitting that this is called a dedication,” the Rev. Erick Olsen, Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Connecticut’s board president, said. “Dedication describes the commitment of families and volunteers that make this happen. It is an honor to serve as board president, and humbling to be among those who do so much.”

The dedication ceremony attracted  a crowd of well-wishers who  packed the house.

Sharon artist Ellen Griesedieck attended, and spoke about her American Mural Project, which is being created in a former industrial space in Winsted. The mural is a tribute to people such as those who work with Habitat organizations across the country. The huge, three-dimensional wall will include a piece of lumber signed by all who were involved in making the Light home a reality.

After the dedication, Maya gave tours of her home’s full basement (she and her siblings plan to use it as a playroom). She listed the names of friends and a cousin in the neighborhood who will come, and said the best sledding will be right in their own yard.

New home ready for applicants

Longtime Habitat volunteer John Pogue has resumed his role as chairman of the building committee.

Two walls are already up at the last of the four homes at the River Road property in Falls Village, near Housatonic Valley Regional High School. When it’s finished, it will be the eighth local Habitat home, and is still in need of a family. Applications will be accepted until the end of January.

As for volunteers, they are always welcome. Pogue stressed that “you don’t have to be able to swing a hammer” to help. Volunteers, skilled or unskilled, are always put to work somehow. To apply as a partner family or to volunteer, call 860-435-4747.





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