JoAnne Long and her daughter, Tegan, stood, arms around each other, as Kristi Crafton welcomed well-wishers to Saturday's official groundbreaking for Habitat for Humanity, Quad-Cities, House No. 64.

"JoAnne and Tegan have waited a long time (two years) for this day," Crafton, executive director for Habitat QC, said. "We're really proud of both of them. It hasn't been an easy journey for them."

Tegan works two jobs to bring in income and mother and daughter live in an upstairs, 1-bedroom apartment. JoAnne uses a cane to help her walk. Eventually because of back injuries, she will need a wheelchair to move around. "I sleep in the living room so this will be a palace to us," JoAnne said.

The new house is set on a flat lot on Christie Street, Davenport, which makes access much simpler. When completed this winter, it will have three bedrooms so both women can have their own room. JoAnne said they are thinking of using the extra bedroom as a media room.

Habitat is a nonprofit, Christian housing organization dedicated to eliminating poverty housing by building simple, decent and affordable housing, Crafton said.

It involves partnerships and not simply giving a house away, she said. Partner families are required to give 500 hours of sweat equity and they pay a mortgage the same as anyone else.

The Longs accumulated their time while working at the Habitat ReStore in Davenport.

"I'm just very excited and grateful about everything Habitat has done for us. It will be a place for us to call home," Tegan said.

Several community organizations and groups are partnering with the family and Habitat to construct the house on Christie. Those include East Davenport Development Corporation, or EDDC, Wells Fargo, Scott County Housing Council, Our Lady of Victory (Davenport) youth group, St. Ambrose Habitat Chapter and the Duncan J. Cameron Family Foundation.

Each organization - and those assisting on other builds - plays a key role in helping people move into these residences. Wells Fargo has helped sponsor 21 houses and the EDDC showed strong support for several homes being constructed this year, Crafton said. Students from St. Ambrose provide money and muscle to projects and help educate other students on Habitat's mission.

The build is being paid for in part by the Car Wash for Humanity Project. Earlier this summer young people from Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church Davenport and community volunteers held the fourth annual event and washed 337 cars.

The Habitat fundraiser was started by Sam Wagner of Davenport and the youth group has kept the sponges moving ever since.

"I'm glad I finally got the chance to step back and think about my efforts from last year," 2008 coordinator Ellie Gradert said. "We're really hoping we can keep the car wash going."

Assistance is needed to raise the remaining funds for this year's projects, Crafton said. The organization received an unexpected boost recently from an anonymous individual who donated $5,000.

"We're very fortunate in the numbers of volunteers. We're struggling to find funding like everyone else in this economy," Crafton said. "We're still short about $70,000. But we have made a commitment with our board that we're going forward."