Local man and his wife build home with the help of Habitat for Humanity

The Show me Central Habitat for Humanity held its first ever Women's Build this weekend.

The event hoped to bring together and empower women in the Mid Missouri area.

Outreach Coordinator for Habitat of Humanity Ashley Switzer told ABC 17 News the event also worked as a fundraiser.

"Every woman that is out here has donated $500 to help build these houses. That is how we're funding the building materials out here," Switzer said. "So, not only have these women chosen out of the goodness of their heart to come out here and sweat on the construction site all weekend, they have also fundraised for the building materials."

One woman volunteer, Krystal Huckaby, and her family will soon move into one of the homes that was apart of this build. Krystal's husband Brent also volunteers with Habitat laying tile and assisting on the construction site, and his own family's future home.

Brent Huckaby said he was first introduced to the Habitat organization during high school through a class at the Columbia Area Career Center. He said due to continuous rent increases, he and Krystal had to reevaluate their living situation.

"You know, it's very important to low income families whenever they can have these kind of organizations that allows them for them to set rent... rent, so, so much lower," Krystal Huckaby said.

The couple said they sent in their application to Habitat for Humanity one month ago and the organization quickly got started on their new home.

"It took me about two weeks to get all the paperwork in..." Krystal Huckaby said, "It was really quick and it's been pretty life changing. We're all super excited to move into the new place....get it all put together."

With two little girls, Krystal and Brent said the extra space in their new home will be much needed as the girls continue to get older.

"We're getting pretty cramped, especially with the young ones getting bigger," Brent Huckaby said.

"They've been stuck in the same room, so its really exciting to be like okay, so y'all have your own space now," Krystal Huckaby said.

They say the additional space will also open the door for new family traditions.

"We would actually have room to set up our own Christmas tree. There's no room where we live right now for a Christmas tree," Brent Huckaby said.

"If we move here before Halloween we will actually be able to trick or treat in a neighborhood," said Sierra Laurie- Greber, the oldest of the two daughters.

Switzer told ABC 17 News the Women's Build welcomed a total of 115 volunteer women builders over the course of Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday morning, Habitat for Humanity held a Brunch Block party in the subdivision of Brown Station road to celebrate the work accomplished over the two days, highlighting its women owned sponsors of the weekend. Residents of the neighborhood also opened their homes for tours to show off the end result of Habitat's work.

Switzer says the subdivision will eventually be home to 143 families.

Currently, there are 12 finished homes on the lot.

"We are building out here Wednesday through Saturday, every single week. There will be 143 homes in our subdivision out here, we right now only have 12," Switzer said. "So, we'll be out here on this Brown Station Road subdivision for a very long time.... we'll need volunteers for years to come."