Habitat for Humanity of Lake-Sumter hosted a ceremony Tuesday to celebrate the completion of the Strickler family’s new home in Lady Lake.
When people arrived around 8 a.m. for the ceremony they saw a beautifully finished house.
People toured the home until around 8:20 a.m., when the new owners-to-be arrived, Amanda, Charles, Duncan and Duncan’s service dog Nala. Charles, Duncan and Nala were eager to show off their new home, and especially their bedroom. They led everyone to a bedroom down the hall. Charles said they would share this room.
When asked about the other bedroom, Charles said “That’s our playroom. We can build our Legos there. And look we have our own bathroom”.
As the guest speakers talked. the new family watched along with Amanda’s mother and father, Barbara and Malcom. One speaker asked that everyone “take your keys from your pocket and look at them. For most of you those keys are a way to lock your doors to be secure. For Amanda, Charles, Duncan and Nala the keys they are about to receive are the keys to their hope and future.”
The keys to the home were presented by Steve Kurtz, president and CEO of Citizens First Bank.
“When we sponsored this home with Habitat for Humanity we did not know that the recipient would end of being one of our own,” Kurtz said.
Amanda works for Citizens First Bank.
As people turned to leave after the ceremony and glanced back at the house they saw when they arrived, they saw a “home” instead.
