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  • Matt Hamilton/The Daily Citizen Edgar Gutierrez, left, talks about their new home with his wife Claudia and children, Alizey, 4, Andrew, 2, Aaron, 1, and Abigail, 2 months, as Vivian Chance with Dalton-Whitfield Habitat for Humanity looks on.

    Habitat groundbreaking 4 mlh.jpg

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March 20, 2010

Young couple awaits Habitat for Humanity home

Jamie Jones Dalton Daily Citizen

DALTON — Luis Sanchez knows how the Gutierrez family feels as they watch their house being built by the Dalton-Whitfield Habitat For Humanity.

Just a few years ago, Sanchez was in a similar situation. Living in an cramped Dalton Housing Authority apartment off Underwood Circle with his three children, Sanchez now lives in the Kirk Estates off West Ezzard Avenue, the site of 16 houses built by the local Habitat For Humanity chapter. The two families will soon be neighbors.

The future home of the Gutierrez family, now just red clay and cinderblocks, is expected to be completed in June or July and will signal a new chapter in their lives.

“You see the mud, then you build it with your own hands, when the house is finally built, the feeling you get is indescribable,” Sanchez said.

Edgar and Claudia Gutierrez, along with their four children ages 4 to 2 months, and members of the Habitat for Humanity group attended a groundbreaking on Saturday morning at 1791 Carter Drive. The George R. Johnson Foundation has donated $30,000 towards the house. The Johnson family owners Hardee’s restaurants from west of Knoxville, Tenn., to northwest Georgia. The foundation was created from the will of George Johnson and gives back to communities where Hardee’s are located, according to local Habitat for Humanity executive director Vivian Chance.

The Gutierrez family has lived in an apartment owned the Dalton Housing Authority for three years. After an explosion at one of the apartments there last year, Edgar became concerned about their safety. The Dalton Fire Department ruled the blast accidental although some suspect old gas lines caused the explosion that killed two residents.

“We started wondering about our well-being for our kids, us,” Edgar said. “That’s when we started moving with the process.”

Edgar, 23, works at a local carpet mill while Claudia, 25, is a stay-at-home mother. Both are longtime Dalton residents and grew up here. They said the help from Habitat for Humanity has been invaluable. The family has already put 50 hours of work — or “sweat equity” — into Habitat for Humanity projects.

“When I came here, I didn’t know zero, nothing,” Edgar said. “I learned how to put down pad for the laminate flooring, how to caulk around the windows, painting, a bunch of stuff. I learned a bunch of stuff. It’s interesting.”

The family is excited about their three-bedroom, two-bathroom house totaling about 1,400 square feet. And Habitat for Humanity officials say residents generate money for the city and county by paying property taxes, utilities and other bills such as cable and Internet.

When the Gutierrez home is finished this summer, it will be the 48th house built by the local Habitat for Humanity chapter. The affiliate formed in 1987 and receives supports from a number of area businesses.

The first phase of five homes in the West Ezzard neighborhood was completed several years ago, while the second phase wraps up soon. A planned third phase includes 17 lots on a hill just above phase two. Sewer and other utilities have been installed for phase two. The group hopes the city of Dalton and Whitfield County will build a road to the lots so construction can begin.

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