OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) - It's forever synonymous with the American dream: owning a home.
At just 20 years old, Leticia Garza’s family of four will be one step closer to that hope.
"I [saw] it in my future, but I didn't know this soon,” she says. “So, it's good it came sooner than what we thought.”
Drive by the Kountze Park neighborhood and find a basement built out already. The soon-to-be ranch style house will have three bedrooms and two baths.
Trading their business attire for hard hats and utility belts, employees from First National Bank partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build Garza’s home.
On Thursday, employees started work on the $150,000 house. In addition to their volunteering, the bank also donated money for the building materials.
“We've got the entire summer booked with people coming out here - volunteering to really help revitalize this neighborhood and create homes for families that really need it,” says Clark Lauritzen, chairman and president of First National.
For the past seven years, the partnership has helped families realize their dreams of becoming homeowners.
“The best part is it's the gift that keeps on giving,” says Amanda Brewer, CEO of Habitat Omaha.
The couple’s mortgage payments will help fund the build of more houses, Brewer says.
Presently, the Kountze Park neighborhood, developed by the Kountze brothers who also founded First National, is undergoing a transformation.
The bank’s re-investment in the area, coincidental, Lauritzen says, but it’s part of its effort to build 5,000 homes in five year.
Right smack dab in the middle of the revitalization efforts to eradicate blighted areas are the Garzas and other fortunate families.
To learn more about Habitat for Humanity, click here.
