Carolyn Myrick couldn't hold back the tears or the smiles as she gathered with her children on the empty lot in northeast Orem.
As a cluster of strangers looked on, the Myricks forced shovels into the rock-hard soil, scooped out a little dirt and tossed it in the air. A home of their own was under construction.The Myricks are the first Utah County recipients of a Habitat for Humanity home. For the next four to six months, the Myricks will pound nails, dip paintbrushes and haul lumber shoulder to shoulder with volunteers who'll help build them a home. If all goes well, moving day will be in September.
Six months ago, Myrick didn't dare dream of a home of her own. Dreams rub reality: You enter a sweepstakes and maybe you'll win. You think up a word-processing program, work night and day to fine-tune it, and maybe it will sell.
But try to qualify for a home loan when you're a single mother raising four children on an annual income of $11,000.
"I had just planned on renting for the rest of my life," Myrick said. "There was no way I could see I'd be able to afford a home."
She was happy enough to have a nice place to rent, which is not an easy task given the size of the Myrick family and Utah County's tight market. The Utah County Housing Authority helps Myrick make her $430-a-month rent payment.
The single mother also receives some help from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but has weaned her family from other welfare assistance. "I felt like I had no dignity when I was on assistance," she said.
Money was tight, but the family was making it.
Then panic struck. In December, the landlord told her she'd sold the home to a son and the Myricks would have to move out in June.
"I was beside myself. Even with the help of the Utah County Housing Authority, the rents have gone out of sight. Having such a large family and being single, people tend not to want to rent to you," she said.
At that low point Myrick heard about a new Utah County chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The international, ecumenical organization operates from a simple premise: Everyone deserves a decent place to call home.
Millard Fuller, a millionaire, founded Habitat in 1976 in Georgia after a crisis in his marriage convinced him to give up his business and devote his life to God. Today, there are 700 Habitat chapters in the United States. The organization has built approximately 5,000 homes.
The primary forces behind Utah County's chapter are Frank Flake and George Barrus. The two retired Provo residents thought a Habitat program would aid low-income people struggling with housing in Utah County.
They've rallied about $8,000 in donations, land contributions - both Provo and Orem cities donated bond lots to Habitat - and volunteers ready to swing hammers.
Habitat for Humanity is not a charity program. Prospective homeowners agree to invest hours of labor in construction of a home. Habitat keeps mortgage payments low through a no-interest, 20-year loan to the homebuyers. Mortgage payments go into a revolving fund that is used to build other homes.
Myrick filled out the necessary forms, sent them off with a prayer and waited.
In April, the chapter's family selection committee called with good news. How would she like a home of her own? "This is something we never dreamed could happen again, and it's happening," said Jennie Myrick, 19. "We're going to have our own home again."
Carolyn and her daughters are already imagining how they'll decorate the home - the colors of paint and carpet they'll choose. When you live in rented space, you live with someone else's tastes.
"I felt so big inside," Jennie Myrick said of her experience helping to clear weeds from the home site recently. "I felt so touched to see all those people out there helping, and they don't even know who we are."
Good feelings work both ways in Habitat for Humanity.
"It seems to me that when we look at our lives . . . the things that take on the greatest importance now and in the eternal sphere are the things we do for one another," said Norm Nemrow, chapter treasurer, during Saturday's groundbreaking.
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The Myricks
Who: Carolyn, 43; Jennie, 19; Heather, 17; Mani, 9; and Tyson, 7. Another daughter, Lisa, 22, is on her own.
Occupation: Carolyn is a human resource supervisor at Sears Telecatalog Center in Provo.
Annual income: $11,000
Previous home: Three-bedroom rental home in Orem
Monthly rent: $430
Habitat home: Three bedrooms, estimated cost $40,000. Orem City donated the lot, 690 N. 550 East.
Monthly house payment: Under $250 a month
"Security. That's the big thing for me and for my family. It's the thing I wanted for my children and feared I'd never be able to provide."
Carolyn Myrick