Habitat dedicates 176th home for 35th anniversary
By: ALLEN MINCEY
June 23, 2026
When a group of men got together back in the early 1990s and decided to join the Habitat for Humanity movement, one wonders if they expected it to lead to so many residences being built.
But with the dedication of the newest Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland home Monday morning, while that number – 176 Habitat homes – is impressive, another even more so.
“To say 176 houses seems to somehow diminish the impact just a little, because it's 176 families that were touched,” said Habitat board chairman Dewayne Thompson. “And when you think about what Habitat has done, and some of our families are families of one, but we've also had families of 12, so we have a family of two this time … but probably we've touched the lives of about 700 people.
“Now that's 700 people with a safe place to live. That's no small impact, and no small accomplishment.”
The family of two are Brooke Alley and her son Orville, who were both present at the dedication.
“We began this journey almost three years ago this August,” said Brooke Alley. “The dream of home ownership and financial stability has been a goal of mine for some time. It seemed unattainable and somewhat hopeless until I unexpectedly stumbled upon the Habitat for Humanity program. On a whim, I applied. I figured it couldn't hurt. It hasn't.
“In a world where living paycheck to paycheck barely keeps your head above water,” she continued. “I thought that staying afloat is all is about all that I would ever be able to do, but with Habitat, the dream of not just treading water but actually swimming is very real today.”
Brooke and Orville currently live in her mom’s basement, and even though she often works 14-hour shifts to make ends meet, she spends as much time with her son as she can, Having a home to call their own is a dream come true for both.
“I just want to say that this entire experience has been amazing, spectacular,” the youngster told those attending the dedication. “All the people and places that I've seen and been to have been ‘Top 10 Bucket List.’ Thank you all for your help and patience with us. Yeah, let's build a house.”
Helping in the home build is the Ocoee Regional Builders Association and Kace Construction. Three of the workers – two framers from CC Blankenship Incorporated and one from Kace – were in action while the dedication ceremony was taking place.
“I have personally been involved with Habitat since 2008, and have enjoyed every minute of it,” Peak said, adding that her company and ORBA have built 15 or more Habitat homes over the years.
Those homes might be very close to the Alley’s home, as the subdivision where their home is located – at Southgate Drive off South Lee Highway – is all Habitat homes.
“This will be this is one of seven full subdivisions or neighborhoods that we've built in this city in the last 35 years,” explained David Gray, Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland CEO. Just a few weeks ago, a similar ceremony was held for a Habitat home just across the street from the Alleys.
“That was Home 175; we’ll see which one gets finished first,” he said. “Our plan is to build another house right next to house number 175. Two to three more houses in this center space, and then we have three more lots on the other side of this subdivision.”
Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland will have two more homes built this year, and then four more in 2027, all going up in the Southgate Hills subdivision.
Gray said homeowners have been selected for the next nine residences but Habitat will still be accepting registrations in October.
Several who attended the ceremony participated in holding up one of the sides of the building … a wall raising and ORBA presented a $10,000 check to Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland.