New Homeowner Thanks Habitat for Help

Construction complete. Now a new homeowner takes the reins of her first house, thanks to a slew of volunteers from Habitat for Humanity. Welcome to Burlington Junction...population 632. But that number is about to change. Three newcomers make their home in the Nodaway County town, thanks to Habitat for Humanity. "Even with all the boxes and everybody here, it really hasn`t hit me yet. You know, when you have a miracle happen, you really don`t know how to take it all in," Tanja Shimak, new homeowner, says. Shimak had only dreamed of owning her own home, until Habitat handed her the keys to a house she helped build from the ground up. "I helped sheet rock, paint, I picked out the carpeting, the cabinets, helped put all those in, I decorated my children`s rooms, picked out the border," Shimak says. That`s where Tanja`s son, Chiefs fan Justin comes in. Taking us for a tour, the 8-year-old explains his own role in making a play of the day. "I helped my mom put up the border," Justin Shimak says. Justin`s not the only one learning new skills. Tanja says building alongside habitat volunteers built her own self-confidence. "I know how everything works now--I didn`t know before. I was like oh there`s a water heater here somewhere and it works somehow, but now I now how," Shimak says. Tanja says if something breaks, she`s the handywoman now. And that`s not the only thanks she says she owes to Habitat for Humanity... "Having Habitat has helped me meet a lot of my neighbors. One even said she has a day care and she has an opening, so we went over there and my daughter is now with a wonderful lady who takes really good care of her and has become a really good friend," Shimak says. The family of three finally has a place to plant roots of their own. "I`d always moved around a lot when I was a kid, and I didn`t want that for my kids, so we have a home for them and a good community where they can be safe and grow up happy," Shimak says. Shimak says her new home wouldn`t be possible without many man hours from volunteers of local businesses throughout Nodaway County.