Staff members from Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity joined with representatives from Capital One and other sponsors Oct. 23 to dedicate the newly constructed Habitat house on Algiers Street in Sandston. Chevelle Athey, a single mother of six children who works full-time for the Virginia Department of Taxation, will move into the home with her family within a few weeks.

The new home was built from the ground up using hundreds of volunteers, and was sponsored by several local businesses in addition to Capital One, including Richmond International Forest Products, The Community Foundation Serving Richmond & Central Virginia, Genworth Financial and Allianz. Among in-kind donors were James River Air Conditioning, Riverside Brick & Supply Co., Eidson Concrete, Allied Concrete, Bass Crane Service, and the Richmond Council of Garden Clubs. Gordon and Judith Angles (looking on, as Athey cuts the ribbon, above) donated the property.

The Atheys have been living in substandard conditions in a rental home that smells of sewage in the summer, and some of the children have acquired health issues. In preparation for moving into the new home, Chevelle Athey has attended mandatory homeownership and financial literacy courses as well as completing 350 hours of "sweat equity" volunteering at the Habitat ReStore and helping to build her own home.