Alliance's Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on the Kurzinsky house
ALLIANCE − It wasn't just a scoop of dirt, not to Sara Kurzinsky and her children.
It meant more.
Alliance Area Habitat for Humanity's shovel ceremony Monday night at Green Avenue and Noble Street in the city was the next step in the family's two-year journey to owning their own house. The real work − construction − begins in July.
"I'm excited and grateful and blessed and overwhelmed at the same time," Kurzinsky said while standing on a grassy lot that soon will be home to her and her four children. They currently are renters. "I don't know. I can't describe it but it is just a really good feeling."
The Kurzinsky house will be a ranch with four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
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Habitat homes are not free.
Families have interest-free mortgages. They must meet three criteria for their application to be considered, primarily that their current living situation is substandard. The other factors are ability to contribute "sweat equity" and having a stable, steady income.
Kurzinsky started the process two years ago, and she has committed 200 hours to help Habitat build her house.
Niki McIlvain, executive director of the Alliance Area Habitat for Humanity, said the Kurzinsky house will be the agency's 10th build under its East Alliance Revitalization Project, and 60th overall. It also is the third house on or near Noble Street since 2022.
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Fighting back tears, McIlvain said the East Alliance project has been special because it has "started a phenomenon" in that area of town. For example, she said neighbors have been increasing their property values by investing more in their homes.
Additionally, there is a sense of community there.
For example, McIlvain said several families from previous Habitat houses in the area stopped at the Kurzinsky property to wish them well, while walking to baseball or softball practice. The East Alliance project has "evolved into people taking care of each other," she said.
"The families are on each other's softball teams and babysitting for each other. It's just this really amazing community," McIlvain said as she wiped away tears.
McIlvain said an 11th house in the East Alliance project will break ground later this year.
Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Alliance's Habitat for Humanity to build Sara Kurzinsky's house
