PETERSBURG, Va. — A mother of five is getting a brand-new home in Petersburg's West Lane neighborhood thanks to a partnership between Tri-Cities Habitat for Humanity, the Petersburg Breakfast Rotary Club, Walmart. and the Peoples Advantage Bank
Marissa Dagenais lost her husband Loren Mason Jr. in 2017 when she was pregnant with her youngest child. In the past year, she made the decision to have her children stay with her parents so she could work as a manager at the Walmart warehouse in Sutherland since 2021.
"It’s been a lifetime dream of mine to be a homeowner and to provide my kids with a forever home," Dagenais said.
The 2,100-square-foot, four-bedroom two bathroom home is being built with lumber donated by Walmart to help make the project more affordable.
The Petersburg Breakfast Rotary Club has been awarded a Rotary District Grant in the amount of $16,500 and have pledged the funds to support the new construction.
"But this is the cool thing, that family actually worked for Walmart," Kofi Adih with the Petersburg Breakfast Rotary Club said. "So not only is this community service in the sense of Habitat building the four-bedroom home, but it’s also affordable quality housing for their workforce."
Kellie Parker with Tri-Cities Habitat for Humanity said the organization provided Walmart with criteria to help select the recipient. Parker said they have to be able to create an opportunity for families to stay in the areas where they are from.
"We want to make sure that every family has a decent place to live, that it our motto and we want to make sure that is affordable," Parker said. "We work within the family's income to make sure that that takes place so we do what we need to whether that's getting grants to help, whether its taking the interest rate all the way down to zero percent to ensure that they are able to afford the house."
Additionally, Parker said that Habitat requires all of its families to take a financial literacy course in addition to helping volunteers in the building process
"The family has to give 400 hours of sweat equity which means that they will be building their house right alongside the other volunteers, experienced carpenters, the HVAC, the plumbers, the electricians, the roofers, they'll be right there and learn everything that takes place in the building of their home," Parker said. "We do everything that is necessary to make sure that it gets done and that its sustainable."
"I’ve been on cloud nine since I heard we were the recipient of it. I’m ready to build," Dagenais said.
The home is expected to be completed in six months, allowing Dagenais to reunite her family under one roof.
"I can’t wait to sit at the table all together," Dagenais said.
"We want people here that are going to build families, we want people that are going to help in this community in owning a home in this community and is ultimately what make this community better," Adih said.
Victor Terwilliger with Howard Shockey & Sons Commercial Construction said he can already picture the family cutting the ribbon and moving in.
"When they walk through that door to their forever house, that’s pride and an emotion that you can’t copy and you can’t buy," Terwilliger said.
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