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DURHAM -- "Behold, I make all things new." [Revelation 21:5]
The house that love built needed no furnace Saturday: The warmth of First Presbyterian Church members was enough, as they dedicated a Habitat for Humanity home for their longtime custodian, Robert Daye.
"I feel great," Daye said just before the noon ceremony at 702 Carroll St., a neighborhood a few blocks from downtown that has recently seen a drop in crime and increase in community pride as new Habitat homes have been built. "I've been living in an apartment at the church for about eight years, so it feels great to have your own home."
Daye, 58, said he's never been a homeowner until now. "It's exciting," he said as he stood in his new front yard and looked over the finished product. "We've been working for a long time, but we made it."
First Presbyterian members donated $50,000 to buy materials for the two-bedroom, single story frame house. They also provided 20-30 volunteers each Saturday for about four months to build it, according to Miguel Rubiera, executive director of Habitat for Humanity in Durham.
"It looks beautiful," Rubiera said. "It looks so good that we are going to replicate it in the small lots in this community where we are building right now. We are building 10 houses as we speak."
Rubiera said the house blends well into the neighborhood, is "green building-certified" and has a sprinkler system.
Daye said he put in 250 hours of "sweat equity" as the house took form, including painting, landscaping, cutting boards, installing aluminum siding and staining the deck.
"The community was running down, and it was kind of bad, like violence and stuff," Daye said. "But Habitat came in and built these houses, and now there is a big difference."
"I'm very thankful to the church for what they did," Daye said. "I really appreciate it. Words cannot explain how much I appreciate what they did. Yes sir."
The Rev. Joe Harvard, pastor of First Presbyterian, said Daye has been a valued church employee for 32 years, and he thanked the church members gathered at the new home Saturday for all they did to make Daye's dream of a home become reality.
"This is truly a day the Lord has made," Harvard said. "Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
