Ground breaks on Greensburg Habitat houses; Jeff Gordon helps in celebration

Where do you go when you don't have a home?
    For renters in Greensburg, when a tornado swept through the town last May and came close to wiping it off the map, their options were especially limited. With no homeowners insurance to rebuild, many left. Single mothers with limited incomes similarly faced the harsh reality of rebuilding.
    Now, there are at least two who are staying.
    On a hot, stagnant Thursday afternoon, with the help of DuPont and championship-winning NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon in support, the first few shovels of dirt were turned on the first two Habitat for Humanity homes in Kiowa County.
    DuPont donated $750,000 to the reconstruction of Greensburg, including funding for the two homes.
    Gordon, along with management and directors from the Wichita chapter of Habitat for Humanity, helped break ground for a home for Rhonda Hammond and another one for the family of Diana Torres.
    Linda Stewart, executive director of Wichita Habitat for Humanity, said it was an especially exciting day.
    "We are transforming people who may have been renters into homeowners," she said. "These new homes will also meet with the town's goal of going green and helping with sustainability.
    "I love what we do," she added.
    Stewart said the Pratt/Kiowa County chapter of Wichita Habitat for Humanity eventually hopes to build close to 10 homes in the storm-ravaged town.
    Faye Kuhn, chair of the Pratt/Kiowa chapter, said because involved locals wanted to get up and running in time to help build homes in Greensburg, they didn't have time to get full accreditation as an independent Habitat branch. She said she hoped the Kiowa/Pratt affiliate would soon be able to stand on its own two feet.
    Kuhn, who said she was a resident of Pratt who wanted to help out in the area, said her chapter of Habitat was in a unique situation.
    "Habitat normally doesn’t work disasters," she said. "Doing so, it gives us a different flair and energy."
    NASCAR driver Gordon was also present for the official groundbreaking ceremony.
    "My heart goes out," he said, during the ceremony. "I was just driving in and ... it just takes one second to see the devastation that has happened to Greensburg."
    Despite the widespread destruction, Gordon said it was inspiring to see the town bounce back.
    "The thing I'm just blown away from is looking around here and seeing the people that have not left Greensburg," he said. "The people who have stayed here because they believe what this town is about."
    As for the two families who will receive the first two homes in the area, the road to owning their own homes didn't come without some soul-searching.
    Diana Torres, along with her 16-year-old daughter Denae and her 10-year-old son Erik, had considered moving out of state. The Torreses had lived in Greensburg for close to seven years when the May 4, 2007, tornado destroyed the home they had rented.
    "I was going to move to Texas," Diana said. "But my daughter is going to be a junior. She wanted to graduate with her class."
    While the Torreses had only been in Greensburg for several years, Rhonda Hammond had lived in the area all her life. A single mother, with her 20-year-old son living in Hutchinson, Hammond said the Habitat house was the only way she could stay in town.
    "When you're a single mother with a limited income, your options are limited," she said.
    The two families will be sold the homes with 20-year, 0 percent mortgages. That means house payments will be in the area of $300 month. Construction is expected to begin July 24 and be completed by Aug. 23.
    Stewart said she would encourage anyone willing to volunteer their time to help out with the construction.
    And with a race fast approaching this weekend, Gordon told reporters after the celebration that since he was a new father and it was Father's Day, he could dedicate the race to anything he wanted.
    And if he won, Gordon said, Greensburg would get that dedication.

Reach Mark Vierthaler at (620) 408-9932 or e-mail him at mark.vierthaler@dodgeglobe.com.