Fifteen-year-old Brianna Huff said she will paint her new bedroom blue. Her sister, 14-year-old Breshauna, however, wants purple and pink to adorn her walls.

The sisters are part of a community-wide Habitat for Humanity effort to build a house on 1310 W. Eads St. in Urbana for Falesha Huff and her daughters.

The Huff family has been waiting for a home for almost two years due to disputes between Habitat and the City of Urbana concerning U.S. Housing and Urban Development funds, according to a press release. In the end, community support and an anonymous donation of $10,000 made the Huff’s dream of a home a reality.

It was important for Habitat to find a home in Urbana for the family because Breshauna suffers from a hearing-related learning disability and needs to continue in a designated program with the Urbana School District, said Laura Huth, executive director for Habitat for Humanity of Champaign and Piatt counties.

“We have been waiting for a few years (for a house),” said Brianna. “It’s finally come, so now I’m excited.”

The Huffs currently live behind a Family Video store on Hill Street in Urbana.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning at the vacant lot where the house will be built, Huth said the community has been a large part of the process.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate – through the generosity of two individuals and one local business – how Falesha, Brianna and Breshauna Huff will have a home of their own in Urbana this year,” Huth said. “We’re just really pleased with the broad support in making this home a reality for the Huffs.”

RE/MAX Reality Associates, the sponsor of the Huff home, has been raising funds throughout the area.

“We sent out postcards, we sent out letters, and our agents have contributed in one way or another,” said Sandy Gordon, a broker with RE/MAX and site coordinator for the project. “We are so pleased to be a part of this. We want to help a family find a home – that’s our goal.”

By raising money through local community fund-raisers and accepting donations, RE/MAX is able to send all proceeds straight to Habitat, said Rosa Davisson, head of finance of the RE/MAX steering committee, which is in charge of overseeing the Habitat project.

Davisson, also an administrative assistant with RE/MAX, said the generosity of community members will not go unnoticed.

“Habitat for Humanity turns around and sends out thank-you cards (to the donors) … They are also mentioned in the Habitat newsletter,” said Davisson. “There will be an appreciation party at the end, so all of our volunteers and donators will be recognized in one way or another.”

An anonymous donor and a landowner also played a significant role in the process of finding a place to build the home, Huth said.

“A plea went out last fall to the community for a free lot, or a lot to buy,” Huff said. “After reading a newspaper story about Habitat’s lot dilemma last year, a generous anonymous donor sent a $10,000 check to the Habitat office.”

“He asked me, ‘How much do you think a lot would cost?’ and I said, ‘Oh, I don’t know, $10,000 maybe’ … and he said, ‘Fine, I’m on my way over with a check,'” Huth said.

A few weeks later, Urbana resident Dexter Stone decided to sell his lot on Eads Street to Habitat for the $10,000 they could afford. The lot had been in Stone’s family for years. He even grew up in the neighboring house adjacent to the lot, said Huth, who was very pleased with the generous contributions of both citizens.

“In addition to making this lot available, (Dexter Stone) does intend to join the Huff family and volunteer on the site to help build this home,” Huth said.

With more than $15,000 already raised, RE/MAX will need approximately $33,000 – half of the total required $66,000 – to start construction of the house. Donated materials and monetary donations are still needed. Habitat hopes to start construction sometime in May, and expects the house to be finished within five months of the starting date.

Although Habitat built three homes in the area in 2004, this is the organization’s first partnership with RE/MAX.

Steve Clarkson, vice president for the Habitat for Humanity of Champaign and Piatt counties, said the community-wide effort could have only been made possible through the support of RE/MAX, the landowner, the anonymous donor and other partners within the community.

“It’s just exciting to be a part of this,” Clarkson said. “And we want to build six or seven (more) homes this year.”

Falesha Huff thanked Habitat for Humanity, RE/MAX and God for blessing her family with the home at the groundbreaking ceremony.

“I’d like to say to all low-income families – people that want to be homeowners – that Habitat is out there … they really truly can make a dream a reality,” Huff said.