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Habitat for Humanity chooses Giles family as next homeowners

Jane Reuter

BRECKENRIDGE – Carla Giles cried earlier this month when she learned she and her husband, Scott, would have a new home. The Gileses got the news then they had been selected to live in the next Habitat for Humanity home, planned in the Gibson Heights subdivision in Breckenridge.

Groundbreaking of their three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,500-square foot house is set for July, with an anticipated move-in date sometime in September.

Gibson Heights is a Summit Housing Authority project of about 40 homes; the SHA sold two of the lots to Habitat for Humanity for the cost of infrastructure – streets, electricity, plumbing to the lot. A second Habitat home will be built there in 2003 for Laura Fessenden. A 10-year Summit County resident, she is a single mother with three children.



The Gileses now rent a third-story Treehouse condominium in Wildernest. The parents of twin 7-month-old boys, the couple had begun to wonder how they’d cope with crawling babies in a small, two-level condominium at the top level of the condo complex.

In their new home, they will have both a front and a back yard.



“We were wondering how we were even going to make it through the summer,” Carla said. “This came at just the right moment. Now it looks like we’ll be able to be in a house before they’re walking.”

“Three flights of stairs is hard after a while,” agreed Scott, who, along with his wife, carries groceries, laundry and babies up and down the steps. “The twins have got to be at least 17, 18 pounds apiece now.”

Scott has lived in Summit County for 12 years. A lift mechanic at Keystone, he also is the wrestling coach at Summit’s middle and high schools. Carla is a stay-at-home mom and a piano teacher.

They met four years ago at a Summit County softball game – he was playing, and she was keeping score. They’ve been married three years, but this past year held the greatest surprises.

“We didn’t know until I was five months pregnant that I was having twins,” Carla said. “Twins are on both sides of the family but back a few generations, and I had miscarried (before conceiving the twins). When we had our first ultrasound, we found out.”

Suddenly a family of four, the Gileses were discouraged when they began seeking more permanent housing options.

“With the family, it was always a consideration to leave (the county),” Scott said. “But I didn’t want to.”

Members of the Agape Outpost Church, the Gileses are deeply religious. Carla said she had placed her trust in God that their housing situation somehow would be resolved.

“We’ve been praying about that for a couple of years,” she said. “In Summit County, it’s kind of impossible to just have it be given to us, but we think it’s a miracle.”

Now, Scott’s looking forward to helping build the new home. Habitat requires those selected as homeowners to put in 500 hours of sweat equity.

“I will be busy,” Scott said. “I’ve helped build houses before. It should be fun.

“We’re just excited to be in a community, and we already have neighbors we know of that are near us, near our church, and work is not too far away.”

Carla imagines the day she, her husband and the boys can play in their own yard.

“Both Scotty and I like sports,” she said. “We want to be able to teach our boys to shoot hoops and throw balls and it’s hard to do that in a condo. There are all kinds of things we’re looking forward to.”

Jane Reuter can be reached at 668-3998, ext. 229, or by e-mail at jreuter@summitdaily.com


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