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Habitat For Humanity Dedicates Home In Jamestown

What was once just a house became a home on Saturday thanks to many hours of hard work and hope from Habitat For Humanity volunteers and the Wolff family.

143 Euclid Ave. became the home of the Wolff family on Saturday morning after a heart-felt dedication ceremony which left many with tears in their eyes.

David Kurzawa, Chautauqua Area Habitat for Humanity board president, welcomed the crowd of neighbors, community members, volunteers and more to the event.

“Welcome everyone to this gorgeous day with no rain right now. We’re are here to celebrate, and one of the things in the Habitat organization is when we complete a house,” Kurzawa said, adding it has been the first home in 10 years that Habitat for Humanity has completed in the city of Jamestown. “It’s important to have a partner like the Jamestown community to help us, and they have helped us a great deal in this project. This is celebration for the house and for the new family who will start their new life here in this community.”

He then introduced the Wolff family members, Joshua, Stacey, Kevin, Maddie and Matthew and the crowd gave them a round of applause.

“I have worked on probably 10-12 homes in my brief time in Chautauqua County, and I have to complement the Wolff family. They have been here since January, and they were always here doing the work with their family members,” Kurzawa said. “We also hope that this family, because of their hard work, will add to this very beautiful part of Jamestown and will be an asset to the community and make it grow.”

The home could not have been completed without the help of the Habitat for Humanity volunteers, he said.

“We had roughly 61 volunteers on this job site for 1,200 hours in the last six months. When I started this project in December, a lot board members didn’t know what we were going to do,” Kurzawa said. “We had no project going on in Chautauqua County, so we brought our three satellites, Mayville, Jamestown and Silver Creek together. We decided we would work on Saturdays.”

He said the team came together and worked diligently on the project over the past six months.

“I just want to thank everybody for all the time they put in. Remember Habitat only works because of this – volunteers, neighbors, and family members. This cannot be done by one person, it cannot be done with two or three people. This has to be a community and family affair.”

Marilyn Kurzawa, board secretary, said she had nothing but thanks for those who helped.

“This is what Habitat for Humanity is. It’s our family, our friends and our volunteers,” she said. “Chautauqua Area Habitat for Humanity is an all volunteer organization. There’s no one sitting in the office answering the phone and writing letters; there’s no one taking care of the mortgage details for this house which took weeks and weeks; there’s no one who says, ‘We’re going to take this property and we’re going to build it.'”

Kurzawa said the volunteers are the support of the organization without which none of their efforts would be possible.

“The purpose of Habitat for Humanity is to put God’s words into action. The difference between us and the people who say, ‘I hope,’ is that we say ‘We do,'” she added. “Our hope for the Wolff family is that you continue to grow and strive and work as hard as you have. We have never seen an effort like yours.”

Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi stepped onto the porch to offer words of welcome to the family.

“This is the American Dream. The American Dream not simply about getting people into homes, but people coming together and working together to help each other out,” Teresi said. “When we help our neighbor, we’re helping ourselves out in the process. That seems to get lost these days a lot more.”

He said he is glad Habitat for Humanity is back at work in the city of Jamestown and offered the partnership of the city on future projects going forward.

Afterward, Teresi shared a dialogue he often heard as a child between his father and grandfather.

“My dad called my grandfather on the phone, and said ‘Pop, why don’t you come over for dinner?’ or ‘Pop, the kids and I are going out to dinner and ball game, why don’t you join us?’ And my immigrant grandfather in his broken English said, ‘But, Tony, if I go with you – who’s a-gonna be a-watching the house tonight?'” Teresi said. “Part of that is sometimes it was just an excuse because he didn’t want to be bothered or he was tired and didn’t want to go out, but part of it was that the house he had was the most important earthly possession he ever had in his life and that he ever would have. It was not only the statement of hard work and every dollar he earned saved, but it was a statement about who he was and he took pride and joy in that home.”

He said he could still see that shine through on his grandfather’s face when he would pull up the drive way and find his grandfather sitting there.

“In the shadow of the garage in a beat-up old lawn chair with a straw hat on, there was just a pure look of joy on his face,” Teresi said. “I hope that when you get an invitation to go out, you accept it every now and then, but I’m also hoping that occasionally you may say in your own way you can’t go out because ‘Who’s a-gonna be a-watchin’ the house?'”

Afterward, a variety of gifts were given to the family from Habitat for Humanity, including a tool kit, a bible, a printed blessing for the house, handmade quilts and gifts from the neighbors.

The Rev. Al Myers of Levant Wesleyan Church, offered a prayer of dedication and blessing for the home, inviting the crowd to join in.

“There’s nothing magical about it, but I believe there is something in the spiritual realm about the unity of believers and those who acknowledge God’s presence in our lives,” Myers said. “If you would find a place in the home, and place one hand there whether it’s on the bench, the fence or the side of the house, we’ll pray together.”

The Wolff family members were then invited to cut the ribbon on their front door and cross over the threshold together.

Cake and refreshments were served in the newly-renovated home, and tours were given of the various rooms.

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