Volunteers start Habitat house at Statehouse for Marysville site

Workers hammered away outside the Statehouse on Wednesday, building a home and making a point.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, about 250 volunteers helped Habitat for Humanity of Ohio erect the shell of a house on the Statehouse terrace.

“We want to raise awareness about the importance of everyone having access to affordable and fair housing,” said Ryan Miller, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Ohio.

At the end of the day, the walls were dismantled and moved to West 5th Street in Marysville as the start of a new house for Dave and Kate D’Agati, both 35.

With two young daughters, the D’Agatis have outgrown the secondstory, two-bedroom condominium they have been renting in Marysville. But on Dave’s salary as a first-grade teacher at Columbus Preparatory Academy, the couple could not find a desirable home they could afford.

“We found nothing in our budget that was also livable,” said Kate D’Agati.

Last year, acting on the suggestion of Kate’s father, who volunteers for Habitat near his home in Bellevue, the couple applied for a Habitat home. They met the criteria: They were able to work 300 hours on the home, lived in substandard housing, and earned enough money to service the zerointerest loan but not enough to comfortably afford a home of their own.

The D’Agatis’ new, twostory home will be about 1,250 square feet, including three bedrooms and oneand-a-half bathrooms, plus an attached garage.

The family hopes to move in by the end of the summer.

Todd Miller, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Delaware and Union Counties, said this will be the fourth Habitat home in Marysville. He sees more on the way for families priced out of the housing market.

“We’re looking to ramp up production in Union County,” he said. “We’re hearing from more and more people who are cost-burdened.”