Sweat poured out of dozens of volunteers as they poured their hearts into building a new home in Kennedy Heights.
"I want to say thank you to all of you who are helping build this house," said John Kollie.
Kollie survived the civil war in Liberia by fleeing to neighboring Sierra Leone. He lived there for fifteen years. It was there he met and married his wife Yeamata.
A short time later the two were granted refugee status and were allowed to enter the United States.
"This home is a dream come true," said Yeamta.
The house is the first of ten houses that will be paid for by Ohio National Financial Services. Ohio National is one hundred years old and the business wanted to celebrate by building the ten homes over the course of the next five years.
"We wanted to give back to the community that we've been in for one hundred years," said Adrienne Gutbier a spokesperson for Ohio National.
"Habitat for Humanity makes the dream of home ownership a reality for thousands of families across the United States," said David O'Maley, Ohio National's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer.
The day started with a wall raising ceremony which was immediately followed by an orientation for the volunteers most of whom work at Ohio National.
The Kollie family will also be required to invest five hundred hours of their own labor as part of the Habitat for Humanity program.
