{"id":206516,"date":"2026-06-01T20:32:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=206516"},"modified":"2026-06-01T20:32:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T01:32:34","slug":"newest-habitat-for-humanity-house-built-in-van-wert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/06\/01\/newest-habitat-for-humanity-house-built-in-van-wert\/","title":{"rendered":"Newest Habitat for Humanity house built in Van Wert"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Through sweat equity, Cheyanna Wheeler and her young son Riot have a new Habitat for Humanity of Paulding-Van Wert home on George St. in Van Wert. The home was dedicated during a brief ceremony and open house that was held on Sunday. Photos submitted<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Habitat for Humanity of Paulding-Van Wert\u2019s newest home was dedicated during a brief ceremony and open house held on Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The house in the 900 block of George St. in Van Wert is the new home of Cheyanna Wheeler and her son, Riot, 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never saw a community come together so much,\u201d Wheeler told the crowd about the creation of her new home. \u201cI never want to be anywhere else but Van Wert. It\u2019s a wonderful community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Van Wert County Commissioner Thad Lichtensteiger welcomed Wheeler to Van Wert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations on the dedication of a new home,\u201d he declared. \u201cIt looks beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lichtensteiger added that his father used to say \u201cmany hands make light work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt conveys what happened here,\u201d he remarked. \u201cHome ownership is a barometer of the community \u2013 that investment shows you are part of the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lichtensteiger also stated that only one percent of homeowners participate in building their home, which puts Wheeler in a unique group. He added that helping build her house means that Wheeler has \u201cput her heart and soul\u201d into her home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCongratulations for being part of the community,\u201d he stressed. \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to have you own a home in our city and county of Van Wert.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the home\u2019s dedication, Pastor Michael Baer of First Missionary Church and several church members blessed the dwelling while Pastor Daniel Perry of North Union Church presented the benediction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Several churches and church groups have helped Habitat with its builds. The goal of Habitat for Humanity is to provide decent housing for qualified families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not a free home,\u201d Habitat for Humanity of Paulding-Van Wert Executive Director Laurie Lucas said. \u201cThe gift from Habitat is a zero percent loan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A homeowner\u2019s mortgage is based on the cost of materials. In addition to house payments, each Habitat homeowner must pay for their own utilities, home maintenance, taxes and insurance. Partner families must help with the builds, putting sweat equity hours into their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheryl Stauffer, family support for Habitat for Humanity of Paulding-Van Wert, told those in attendance that homeowners put in 250 sweat equity hours homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe was really motivated,\u201d Stauffer said of Wheeler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Construction manager Christopher Bercaw thanked everyone that helped work on the home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had a lot of businesses and volunteers build this home,\u201d he acknowledged, praising various individuals including head volunteer Brian DeLucenay. \u201cA lot of this community came together to help us build this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many groups of volunteers and donors helped make the home a reality including: Van Wert Knights of Columbus, Convoy Lions Club, Central Insurance, Vantage Career Center, First Missionary Church, Leis Roofing, Van Wert County Fair, David and Janice Lichensteiger, Help Builds Hope, Schlatter\u2019s Heating & Plumbing, Menards, Alexander & Bebout, Bebout & Hous, Cool Machines, Chad Bonnett, Deitemeyer Brothers, Ecotone Paint, the Van Wert School at the Goedde, Danny and Jill McCoy, Lee\u2019s Ace Hardware and Wallace Plumbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also during the dedication, Habitat presented a special plaque to Andy McMahon for his years of service and dedication to Habitat for Humanity. McMahon has been a member of Habitat since 1992. He has helped on numerous builds throughout the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that the Wheeler home is complete, Habitat is actively looking for other sites and families to partner with in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a special occasion when we finish a home because it means we can start a new one,\u201d Lucas said, adding that this build started in September 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn more about the Habitat for Humanity of Paulding-Van Wert visit them on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n

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VW independent staff\/submitted information Habitat for Humanity of Paulding-Van Wert\u2019s newest home was dedicated during a brief ceremony and open house held on Sunday. The house in the 900 block of George St. in Van Wert is the new home of Cheyanna Wheeler and her son, Riot, 3. \u201cI never saw a community come together […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-topstory"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-08 23:36:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206516"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206539,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206516\/revisions\/206539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}