FOLEY — Saturday marked a milestone for Habitat for Humanity. On that day, the organization celebrated the completion of its 100th on its 20th anniversary in Baldwin County.

That home, announced Neighborhood Revitalization Director Alex Cary, was completed in Foley for Regina Gatlin and her two daughters. To celebrate, Habitat volunteers, beneficiaries and employees gathered at Foley Elementary School.

“Twenty years ago, this affiliate was started by volunteers dedicated to providing affordable housing in Baldwin County,” said master of ceremonies Kevin Kadunce. “Congratulations to everyone who has spent even an hour volunteering.”

Saturday’s celebration included Past Board Chair Sherry Weaver recalling the organization’s growth from those early days. She cited Habitat’s acquisition of an office as an initial achievement.

“As Habitat, we got our own home, so to speak,” she told the audience.

Weaver said that from there, the organization grew to have its own staff and executive director. Then an introduction led to an improvement in how Habitat provided its non-profit service.

“We met Doug Murray,” she said in her address, “who taught us the panelized method of building homes. So we went from building one to two houses a year to as many as 10.”

Weaver also talked about the introduction of Women Build, a project that enables Baldwin County women to erect the homes.

“Volunteers who thought they couldn’t do anything to help build a home were suddenly in a position to do so,” she said.

Saturday’s celebration also included an address by home recipient Vicki Mims, a mother of three who has since become a regular volunteer with Habitat.

“I want to give back what they gave to me,” she told the audience. “They gave me a home. As long as I’m standing, I’m going to continue being a part of Habitat for Humanity.”

Equally enthusiastic was fellow home recipient Hector Monge, who recalled learning that he would have a new home about two weeks before Christmas.

“At that very moment, I started crying,” he told the audience.

In addition, Habitat Executive Director Walter Hendrix discussed Habitat’s recent accomplishments.

“We run on a July 1-June 30fiscal year,” he told the audience. “Last fiscal year, we helped 15 families.”

In addition, that year included the addition of a second Restore in Bay Minette.

“It turned profitable after about three months,” Hendrix said.

Plus, he explained that in the last year, Habitat started a new-and-revitalization initiative, which helps with home repairs of various degrees.

As for what’s coming up for Habitat, Construction Manager Bobby Clark announced an effort to share knowledge.

“We’re working on training programs with churches,” he said. “We have seven churches trained in different parts of building a house.”

With that training, Habitat is gearing up to start a new build a the end of September, Clark said.

But Board Chairman Craig Olmstead said that’s just the beginning for the upcoming year.

“Next year we plan to build 10 new houses, renovate six houses for about $3,000 each and handle two houses that need about $15,000 worth of critical care,” he told the audience.

Saturday’s festivities included entertainment from singer/songwriters who composed songs for Habitat’s 20th anniversary. Brent Burns performed “Build Them a House” and Top Hat & Jackie sang “Our House.”

For more information about Habitat for Humanity of Baldwin County, call 251-943-7268 or visit www.BaldwinHabitat.org.