DANVILLE — Mark Whaling was almost moved to tears on Wednesday at the groundbreaking ceremony for his new home at 1416 Sherman Street.
Whaling, a veteran, will be the recipient of the three-bedroom, two-bath ranch-style home being built by Habitat for Humanity of Danville.
“Words can’t say enough how I feel at this moment,’’ said Whaling, before the first shovel hit the ground. “Thank you and God bless.’’
This is the first new home build for Habitat in 10 years to go along with a few rebuilds that they are currently working on.
Executive Director Ryan Campbell said it was an exciting day, especially since this new build was going to a veteran. Funding for this project is coming from donations to the ReStore and from individual donors.
“The ReStore is very important to us, because it supports a lot things like this,’’ said Campbell. “Hopefully, we can get this one done and continue that momentum.’’
Robert Swider, construction manager for Habitat, is going to oversee the home build.
Whaling, who moved to Danville from the Chicago suburbs more than 10 years ago, said this home and Habitat are perfect examples why he moved.
“When I lived in Chicago, no one cared that I was a veteran and most of the people didn’t even smile when you saw them on the street,’’ he said. “I moved down here and it seemed like a whole different place. Everyone was just so nice and when they find out your a veteran, they immediately thank you for your service.
“This is the type of community that I want to live in.’’
Whaling noted the neighborhood seemed fairly quiet.
Campbell, who added the lot was donated to Habitat with a request of building a home for a veteran, said the tentative timeline for construction is to have it move-in ready by next spring.