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Dedication of Logan County Habitat
for Humanity House #28
[December 12, 2025]
Thursday afternoon as snow was
falling, several gathered inside the latest home built by Habitat
for Humanity of Logan County. The home, which is on Monroe Street,
now belongs to Chris and Desiree Nichols and their children Caleb,
Camden, Cayden, Starry and Jaymason.
Habitat purchased the house at 1034 North Monroe Street in Lincoln,
and a crew renovated the home, including transitioning the current
garage into a fourth bedroom to accommodate the large family.
The dedication of the work to be done was held in July of this year.
A photo collage of what the house
looked like before the renovation shows just how much work was done
in the past several months.
Habitat For Humanity President Jamie Voyles welcomed everyone and
said how great it was that the family is going to be in the house
just in time for Christmas.
This event was a dedication of the
work that was recently completed and included litanies, scripture
reading, prayer, and encouraging words and well wishes from Alderman
Steve Parrot, Alderwoman Robin McClallen and Lincoln Mayor Tracy
Welch.
Parrot, McClallen and Welch all
spoke briefly. Parrot said he appreciated the community coming
together for events like this one and thanked everyone for their
support. McClallen spoke of what a dream this is since she remembers
the house when they first got it and can now see all the work done.
She congratulated the family and all who put in such hard work to
make the house gorgeous.
Welch echoed the comments of the other two and said Habitat does
remarkable work for people who need a home. He knew the family had
been waiting years for this and put in some sweat equity on the
house.
As mayor, Welch has seen firsthand what the organization does, and
he and the city council have worked with Habitat to make sure there
were places to build homes. It takes a village to make something
happen from the people who have the vision, to the people who need
the homes to the people who do the work on the homes. He said
Lincoln is very blessed to have Habitat for Humanity and
congratulated the Nichols family, saying it is a perfect time right
before Christmas.
Habitat for Humanity Vice-President Cince Bowns led the litany of
dedication followed by Voyles leading the litany of community
support.
In his special remarks and construction comment, Voyles said Desiree
was there all the time as the work was done. Bill Hutchison was the
intermediary with the Habitat board and communicated with them on
how the work was going,
Habitat secretary Laura Sandrolini led the litany of hope.
For the blessing of the home, Edward Tibbits of His Hands Outreach
read scripture that included Matthew 6:6, Proverbs 24:3-4 and Isaiah
32:18. He spoke of how the Nichols have treasured their family and
home and said the home should be a place of security. They have
pushed on through many obstacles and Tibbits prayed the rooms would
be a place of safety where love lives. Tibbits hopes the home would
be a place of refuge and asks that God would protect them from evil
and sorrow that overcomes them plus overcome darkness with his light
throughout the whole house.
As he prayed, Tibbits asked the Lord to fill the home with peace,
love, joy and his presence and prayed the Lord would dwell with the
kids, help them learn their life lessons well and be all God created
them to be. He thanked the Lord for all the hard work that went into
this project blessing all who worked on it.
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In closing, Tibbits read from
Ephesians 3 saying “Now to him who is able is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his
power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and
ever! Amen.”
Habitat member Carrie Osborn presented the habitat book about
friends to the Nichols and their children. As a teacher at the
junior, Osborn said she has gotten to know all the children.
Another tradition at each house blessing is that the family is
given a family Bible. Tibbits presented them with an Adventure
Bible.
As the ceremony began to wind down, Sandrolini presented the
keys to the home to the Nichols. She said the Nichols had been
incredibly devoted and dedicated to everything that needed to be
done to make the home a reality. They put in countless hours,
cleaned many tables at Culvers during Habitat fundraisers, sold
sandwiches at IGA and worked hard on the house. Sandrolini
appreciated their patience through the whole process and said
she hopes they will have a long and happy life in the home.
Desiree thanked everyone who showed up to support them and give
them the opportunity to do this. She is excited to have a home
that is theirs. It has been a long process and a little
stressful, but she called it happy stress.
The day ended with a group reading of the poem "Bless this
House."
After the poem had been read, all guests were invited to take a tour
of the home, and enjoy cookies, cupcakes and drinks.
The house is a four bedroom, one
bath home with an open floor plan kitchen, dining and living area.
Built in shelves were add in the bathroom in the space where there
used to be a second door. The Nichols family got to pick out new
kitchen appliances, new carpeting and new lighting. The backyard has
a fire pit that will likely get a lot of use in warmer weather.
The current Habitat for Humanity
board members are President Jamie Voyles, Vice President Cince Bowns,
Secretary Laura Sandrolini, Treasurer Cathy Tiffany, Assistant
Treasurer Bill Hutchison and members Carrie Osborn, Georgia Allison,
Jeff Hoinacki, Tonita Reifsteck, Cheryl Roberts, Jane Ryan and
lifetime member Bill Sahs.
Habitat for Humanity
dedicates its newest home in Lincoln, IL - Video
[Angela Reiners]
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