Local family to be given to-be built Habitat house

For the third year in a row, IU, Whirlpool Corp., the Kelley School of Business and Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County will partner to provide a family with a new home.

Construction will begin Oct. 4 near the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center.
“Whirlpool and IU have truly created a lasting legacy in our community through these builds,” Kerry Thomson, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County, said in a press release. “This will be the third family whose lives are changed forever because of a hand up, not a handout.”

After construction is complete, the house will be moved to 14th Street and Woodburn Avenue.

“My daughter can go outside, finally, and play in a yard,” Ashley Kell, who will receive the house, said in a press release. “We’d always hoped to live in a house one day, and when we applied to Habitat, we couldn’t imagine that in less than a year we were going to be having our own house. We couldn’t be any more grateful.”

The Kells have kept a longtime goal of home ownership. Doyle Kell works as a pizza deliverer, and Ashley Kell is a cashier at a grocery store.

“I have been deeply involved with Habitat for Humanity for 15 years,” Lauren Robel, executive vice president and provost, said in a press release. “I can think of no better way to bring the campus and the community together, and I know that our students, faculty and staff are delighted to continue and expand IU Bloomington’s partnership with Whirlpool Corp. and Habitat for Humanity.”

The Kells will receive the keys to their new home before the IU v. Ohio State football game Oct. 13.

Anyone affiliated with IU is welcome to help with the build. For more information, contact Molly Barwick at 812-856-7852 or KISI@indiana.edu.

— Sydney Murray