Miranda Phillips and her three younger children received the keys to their new home in Findlay this month, in a dedication made possible through a partnership between Habitat for Humanity of Findlay/Hancock County and Marathon Petroleum, according to a Marathon Petroleum press release issued through ACCESS Newswire on November 9.
More than 250 Marathon Petroleum employees contributed over 1,400 volunteer hours across more than 300 shifts to help build three homes for local families, the company said in the release. The Phillips home is Habitat’s Home #72 in the Findlay/Hancock County program, built alongside the Phillips family and other volunteers.
For Phillips, a full-time medical assistant and mother of four, the new chapter means room to grow. After sharing a small two-bedroom apartment with her three younger children, she now has a home with a yard for the kids to enjoy and room for her oldest daughter and three grandchildren to visit, according to the release.
“It’s hard to put into words what this moment means to our family,” Phillips said in the Marathon Petroleum press release. “We’ve been looking forward to this day for so long, and now it’s finally here. The kids are excited, I’m excited, and we can’t wait to start making memories in our new home.”
Her path to homeownership included 400 hours of sweat equity — time dedicated to helping build homes and support other Habitat projects — and she had already completed most of those hours before volunteers gathered to raise the first walls of her own home, the release said. She also completed financial education courses to prepare for homeownership, and will make monthly mortgage payments over 30 years at a lower interest rate, like other Habitat homeowners.
The dedication held a personal connection for one Marathon leader. Years ago, Phillips babysat the children of Jacqui Schlachter, Marathon Petroleum’s Supply Chain Midstream Operations and Corporate Services Senior Director — and at the dedication, Schlachter presented Phillips with the keys to her new home, according to the release.
“A house dedication is more than the completion of a building. It is the beginning of a new chapter,” Schlachter said in the press release. “These homes will be places where families gather, milestones are celebrated and memories are made for years to come.” She added: “I’m especially proud of the more than 250 MPC employees who worked over 300 shifts and contributed more than 1,400 hours. Their commitment shows what we can accomplish when we work together to support families in our community.”
The dedication also celebrated two other families, whose new homes were completed alongside the Phillips family’s home, Marathon said. Housing built family-by-family is a running northwest Ohio theme this fall — in Toledo, a $22 million supportive housing project recently broke ground, as we reported in our Mission Point coverage.
“Handing over the keys is always one of the most rewarding parts of what we do,” Habitat for Humanity of Findlay/Hancock County Executive Director Warren Long said in the press release. “It’s the moment when all the hard work, generosity and collaboration come together for a family. We’re incredibly grateful to Marathon Petroleum and the volunteers who helped make this day possible.”
Marathon Petroleum is Findlay’s signature employer, headquartered in the Hancock County city — a presence that has also shown up in its boardroom this year, as we noted when Marathon elected a new board member. The Habitat partnership puts that presence on a residential street instead: employee volunteers raising walls in the community the company calls home.
The build itself became part of the family’s story months before the dedication. Back in August, as volunteers raised the first walls, Phillips said she couldn’t wait to say she helped build her very own home, according to the Marathon Petroleum press release. By the dedication, she could say something better, the release noted — the home was finished, the keys were in her hand, and the work her 400 sweat-equity hours started had been completed by a crew of neighbors, coworkers and fellow volunteers.
“To know that my kids have a place to grow up, feel safe and truly call their own is everything,” Phillips said in the release. “We’re finally home.” What happens next is the ordinary part — and the point: the Phillips family settles in ahead of the holidays, while Habitat of Findlay/Hancock County and its volunteers turn to the next families in line for a home of their own.
Photo: Mbrickn, CC BY-SA