Great Falls

Self-help project pays off for new Great Falls homeowners

Posted: May 20, 2011 5:19 AM by Alex Grubb- KRTV News

GREAT FALLS- Despite overcast skies, Thursday was a bright day for ten Great Falls families.

They can all proudly claim that they built their homes from the ground up.

A ceremony celebrated the completion of homes in Castle Pines Six, which were built as part of a Mutual Self-Help program through NeighborWorks Great Falls.

All ten families worked on each other's homes throughout the last year, putting in sweat equity.

Because the families work together, they not only build the houses on their street, but a strong sense of community as well.

One of the new homeowners, Chris Fleming, said, "To see everybody come together and excel at their strengths and help others where they're not so strong at, to get to this point has been nothing short of astounding. It really is amazing to see this amount of progress this soon."

The group first started working on the homes in July.

Since the self-help program started in 2005, 364 homes have been built throughout Montana.