{"id":48743,"date":"2025-08-18T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=48743"},"modified":"2025-08-18T14:48:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T18:48:23","slug":"habitat-for-humanity-breaks-ground-on-first-combined-paulding-van-wert-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/habitat-for-humanity-breaks-ground-on-first-combined-paulding-van-wert-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Habitat for Humanity Breaks Ground on First Combined Paulding\u2013Van Wert Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Names from left to right – Anthony Marlin, Mary Clark, Jamie Hess, Chris Bercaw, Cheryl Stauffer, Andy McMahon, Laurie Lucas, Kyle Luth., Waylon Wheeler, Cheyanna Wheeler, Sydney Burden, Makayla Poppe, Stephanie Cotrell, and Riot Wheeler in front.<\/strong>
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

VAN WERT \u2014 The newly unified Habitat for Humanity of Paulding and Van Wert Counties held its first official groundbreaking on Sunday afternoon in Van Wert, marking a milestone for the organization and for one local family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board members, volunteers, elected officials, and members of the Wheeler family gathered at the future home site to celebrate the beginning of construction for the Habitat\u2019s first collaborative home project since the two counties merged chapters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is our first groundbreaking under the new Habitat for Humanity of Paulding\u2013Van Wert,\u201d said an organizer at the event. \u201cIt has gone so smoothly already, and we\u2019re incredibly excited.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheryl, who leads family support and selection, praised the Wheeler family and specifically new homeowner Cheyanna Wheeler, who will be moving into the home with her young son. \u201cCheyanna is going to be the one to turn this house into a home,\u201d Cheryl said. \u201cWe\u2019re looking forward to helping her every step of the way\u2014from walls to colors to all the little details.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The home\u2019s walls have been donated by Help Build Hope, reducing material costs significantly. Other donations have also come in to help make the project more affordable, and the board expressed gratitude for the outpouring of community support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two elected officials, Ohio Representatives Jim Hoops and Roy Klopfenstein, were in attendance and offered remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of the big things we\u2019re working on in Columbus is bringing jobs into Ohio, but we also need housing,\u201d said Rep. Hoops. \u201cEvery individual and family wants a place to call home, and this kind of collaboration is how we get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rep. Klopfenstein offered a more personal reflection. \u201cHabitat for Humanity builds houses\u2014but it\u2019s the people and community who make it a home,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s about relationships: with neighbors, with volunteers, and within families. This is what turns dirt and lumber into something truly meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheyanna Wheeler, fighting back tears, shared her emotional story. \u201cI came to Van Wert to give my son a better life. My past wasn\u2019t great\u2014we lost my sister in 2020 to suicide because of the life we grew up in. I never expected anything like this. This is such a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her mother added, \u201cI\u2019m very proud of her. She\u2019s a great mom, and I\u2019m thankful for everyone who made this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ceremony closed with a prayer asking for blessings on the home, protection over the project, and strength for all involved. Volunteers then joined the Wheeler family for the ceremonial first dig\u2014shovels in hand, smiles on faces, and hope in abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a long list of volunteers already signed up, construction is expected to be a team effort fueled by faith, determination, and community spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about building a house,\u201d one board member concluded. \u201cIt\u2019s about building a future\u2014and we\u2019re thrilled to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VAN WERT \u2014 The newly unified Habitat for Humanity of Paulding and Van Wert Counties held its first official groundbreaking<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2230,6,13406],"tags":[24254,17390,26626,26630,19036,26625,8374,26628,9461,26632,24256,26624,26634,13458,26633,26631,26629],"class_list":["post-48743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-community","category-community","category-not-for-profit","tag-andy-mcmahon","tag-anthony-marlin","tag-cheryl-stauffer","tag-cheyanna-wheeler","tag-chris-bercaw","tag-jamie-hess","tag-jim-hoops","tag-kyle-luth","tag-laurie-lucas","tag-makayla-poppe","tag-mary-clark","tag-paulding-van-wert-habitat-for-humanity","tag-riot-wheeler","tag-roy-klopfenstein","tag-stephanie-cotrell","tag-sydney-burden","tag-waylon-wheeler"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Habitat-ground-breaking.jpg?fit=1016%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YQd9-cGb","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 02:12:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48745,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48743\/revisions\/48745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}