Families get homes for Christmas

“Are you angels?”

That’s what West Rehoboth resident Dawn Waples asked at the signing of a lease that will allow her to move into a new home.

She was speaking of volunteers of the West Rehoboth Community Land Trust, the Community Resource Center and the Village Improvement Association, among others. Waples was one of two West Rehoboth families  who will live in new homes on Norwood Street, built by the land trust.

“I was excited,” she said. “Can you imagine they are building this house for me? It’s a blessing.”

Waples has been living in a trailer off Central Avenue.

“It’s not in the best conditions at the moment. My floor was falling in, and it costs too much to fix it up," she said.

The land trust has been working to provide affordable housing for residents of West Rehoboth for several years, but when a plan to build a duplex on Dunbar Street fell through, the land trust last year instead purchased a lot at 111 Norwood St., where it built two single-family homes on the lot.

Soon after breaking ground on the $290,000 project, the land trust offered housing to Waples, who will live in a two-bedroom, one bathroom home with her son, Brandon, 21.

“He’s excited; he can’t wait get his own room,” Waples said of her son.

Waples has also been adopted by the Rehoboth women’s service group, the Village Improvement Association, which has pledged to help her adjust to her new home by providing donated furniture and helping her find work and transportation.The VIA support is aimed at ensuring that Waples can become independent within a year.

Land trust President Beth Doty said the homes are 80 percent funded, with most of the money coming from banks and private foundations. The rental housing effort was the land trust’s way of providing an affordable alternative to West Rehoboth families, many of whom pay lot rent on top of their home rent.

“West Rehoboth residents were being priced out of their own neighborhood,” Doty said.

She said the land trust plans on building more affordable housing in the future.

Selected for the second home was the Yeates family – Melinda, William and their grandson Bryan – who will live in a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house built behind the Waples’ house. Both families are residents of West Rehoboth.

The houses are nearing completion; the families are expected to move in by early January. The Dec. 18 dedication ceremony was an emotional day for the families. Both Waples and Melinda Yeates teared up as they were formally introduced as the new owners.

“It’s been a long journey,” Melinda said. “Today, I’m just overjoyed.”

“I’m happy for my wife,” William said. “She always wanted what we called a home. Just to see the joy on her face makes me happy.”

In between raising their nearly 2-year-old grandson, the Yeates’ both work; Melinda works part-time, while William has a full-time job with a landscaping company.

The Yeates' lived in West Rehoboth several years ago before relocating to Winston-Salem, N.C. But cutbacks at R.J. Reynolds, where William was working, forced them out of their home. After briefly staying in what William described as a bad neighborhood, the couple, who have been married 21 years, moved back to West Rehoboth.

“When you go through life and struggle, you learn how to appreciate good things that happen,” he said.