The local Habitat for Humanity affiliate, will begin the construction of their 26th house at Faith Park beginning on Saturday.

The non-profit organization that falls under the umbrella of the national organization, was founded in 1987 by a small group of Selmians who wanted to make a positive contribution to society.

The small staff consists of just one part-time and two full-time employees.

According to Mina Capps, Executive Director of Habitat-Selma, the organization relies heavily on volunteers.

“We need volunteers to come out this weekend to help us with starting this new house,” said Capps.

“We use untrained volunteers too, they just need to bring their hammer and some gloves. We will provide the hard hats and safety glasses”

The organization also provides insurance for all of the volunteers on the work site in case of injury.

“We try not to work people too much, said Capps. “We start at about 7-8 a.m. and finish up around 1 p.m.”

The construction goes on every Saturday for four or five weekends until the home is complete.

The first day is mostly focused on putting up the frame of the home.

Capps said that although it may not sound like it, the construction of the frame is a lot of work.

“You’ve got to get it right so that each piece matches up exactly, it’s a lot to do.”

The group also needs people on site to do administrative work like keeping track of the volunteers and other paper work.

Habitat-Selma built their first house in 1988, just one year after they received their charter. Over the next decade they went on to build 14 more homes in and around Dallas County.

In 1999 they had what is called a “blitz.”

“We had 20 homes built in one week,” said Capps. “It was great, because we had so much help. We had literally hundreds of volunteers from every religious group in Selma.”

The group tries to build at least one house per year, but their goal is to move up to two.

“There’s such a great need in our community,” said Capps. “You can ride through the streets and see the need.”

The current Habitat house begins construction on Saturday October 30th and they will be looking for volunteers to assist with construction for the next four Saturdays, excluding Thanksgiving weekend.

For more information contact the Habitat-Selma office at (334)872-4409.