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Habitat Kent builds new house for local veteran's family

Family photo

Built by local non-profit Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, an army veteran, his wife and children are just days away from moving into their brand new house. Jon and Lindsay Droski learned the non-profit had accepted their application more than a year ago when Habitat Kent called her on the phone and gave her the good news. 

“I couldn’t believe it,” Lindsay said. “I started jumping up and down, and I ran down to the main floor telling everybody I worked with. It was a great, phenomenal feeling to hear those words: ‘we’re going to build you a house.’

When Lindsay told her husband, Army Veteran Jonathan Droski that Habitat Kent had agreed to build them a new home, she says, Jon had the same reaction.

“He’s like ‘I can’t believe this,’ this is amazing, this is so exciting,” Lindsay said. It really sunk in for us immediately how great this is going to be.”

Jon who served two tours in Iraq, now suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. While he and wife Lindsay had applied for a house through Habitat Kent due to the ever increasing cost of rent, Habitat Kent’s executive director Brianne McKee first took notice of Jon and Lindsay’s application due of his military service.

“The beautiful thing is that Jon and Lindsay have just been tremendous partners by showing their sweat equity, giving of themselves, and the telling their story,” McKee said. “I can't think of a better group of people for Habitat to support, our entire organization really is built on the backbone of volunteers, who raise their hands, to support our work, and veterans raise their hands to support this great country.”

It’s been over a year since Lindsay got that first phone call, and thanks to a number of student volunteers from Grand Rapids Public Schools as well as others, the house is now finished and the Droskis are counting the days till they can officially move in.

“I know for a fact I am going to cry, I am going to ball my eyes out,” Lindsay says about the moment they will shut the front door behind them. “Because we’ll be home. The kids will never have to worry about having a roof over the head.”

According to Habitat Kent, since October of 2016, 138 houses have been built in Kent County by the non-profit.

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