By Rita McInerney

Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Georgia, Inc., dedicated its eighth house on May 15 in Clarkesville, Habersham County.

The one-floor house was donated to Habitat and had to be moved three miles to its new site on Swain Street where it will be occupied by Cathy Haines Crowell and her family.

“We had to hire a moving company. They gave us a special price of $5,000,” according to Glenmary Father Gerald Peterson, pastor of St. Mark’s Catholic Church and one of the founders and first president of the volunteer group.

A highlight of the informal dedication was the proclamation by Mayor Bo Turner of May 15 as “Father Pete (Father Peterson) Day” in recognition of his many activities on behalf of the people of Clarkesville and Habersham County. The framed proclamation was presented to him during the ceremony.

Father Peterson will be leaving the north Georgia parish on Aug. 1. He expects to attend the Glenmary conference in Cincinnati, Ohio after a short vacation. In September he will begin studying Spanish in Mexico after which he expects to be assigned to a new location in the south by the Glenmary Home Missioners.

The Glenmary priest was president of Habitat which covers Banks, Rabun, Habersham and White counties from the time it was organized in January, 1985, until January, 1988. Dr. Al Parsons, of Clarkesville, is the new president.

“We spent the first 15 months raising funds and setting up several committees – family selection, financial, land site. We needed to raise $20,000 to $30,000. We also needed a lead carpenter. He came in March, 1986 and we held a groundbreaking ceremony in March, 1986 to begin the first house, in Cleveland,” he said.

Since that time, Father Peterson said, Habitat has built four houses in White, three in Habersham and one in Rabun counties. The Rabun house is located in Clayton and occupied by a mother and two children since its dedication on March 30, 1988.

Habitat, Father Peterson said, “is not a handout but a helping hand.” Volunteers work with the low-income families who receive the homes through no interest, no profit loans.

Habitat works in the near future, Father Peterson said, include the moving of a house from Helen to Cleveland, a distance of about eight miles. The donor will pay the cost of moving the chalet-type dwelling. Another planned construction will be an 800-square-foot home for a middle-aged couple in the Bean Creek area of White County.

The Habitat organization is an international, tax-exempt, non-profit, ecumenical Christian organization dedicated to helping poor people improve the conditions in which they have to live. This summer it will sponsor a Walk and Work Camp from Maine to Atlanta.

“We expect them for a week in August to frame in one or two houses,” Father Peterson said.

Habitat Sunday will be held in August in all the churches in White and Habersham counties. Last year about 20 churches participated, according to Father Peterson, and about $5,000 was raised. He said it is hoped they will double that amount this year.

A total of $103,000 was raised for Habitat housing in 1987. This year the organization is hoping to raise $100,000.

Anyone wishing to help can send contributions to: Habitat for Humanity of Northeast Georgia, Inc., Box 982, Clarkesville.