After paying $48,000 up front for an addition to their home to allow for a dedicated prayer room, two local members of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception were left desperate for help when their contractor stopped showing up midway through the project. The local Habitat for Humanity Chapter stepped in and helped finish the addition with help from local businesses. Now, everyone involved wants to help the community know how to avoid such unfortunate circumstances.
Sister Anthonia Asayoma, who is also a nurse at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital, moved to the United States 18 years ago. For the last 10 years, she’s lived with Sister Consolata Ojemeh in the Heartland subdivision of Owensboro.
In their faith, the home in which Franciscan Sisters reside is supposed to have a dedicated prayer room. Because the house didn’t, they decided to add a master bed/bath and use one of the existing bedrooms as the prayer room. They’ve been saving up money for years and finally had both approval from their order and the funds for the addition, Asayoma said.
In March of last year, the sisters found a local contractor on Facebook. After agreeing to terms, he asked for a full payment up front, so the sisters gave him a check for $48,000.
Local Habitat Director Jeremy Stephens said the contractor poured the foundation, framed the walls, and put trusses up. After that, the contractor requested a rough-in inspection from the Owensboro Metropolitan Planning Commission — but the inspection failed. After that point, he made a few more stops by the jobsite, but never made the recommended changes from the failed OMPC inspection.
Asayoma tried for months to get the contractor to get back to work but eventually gave up. She sought legal counsel, but said she was told the contractor had nothing to pursue in damages, so there was no legal avenue to pursue.
With no other plan of action to get something going on the project before winter, Asayoma reached out to Habitat for Humanity for help.
Stephens said his first thought was, “Well, that’s not what we do.”
“And then I went home and prayed on it, and I involved a couple board members who did the same. We knew we had to do something, we just didn’t know what it was,” he said.
After researching all the details, reaching out to OMPC, and speaking to all parties involved, the Habitat Board of Directors decided to take on the project, despite it being outside the scope of our normal body of work in the community.
They started with finishing the roof because that would buy them time to develop a plan, including finding the necessary funding and materials along with people who could help with the project, Stephens said.
“The more we prayed on it, the more it became clear that we had to see this thing through,” he said.
Habitat started the project in mid-December, and it officially passed final inspection today.
“I can’t express how much I appreciate Habitat, because this process was really torture,” Asayoma said. “I was planning on going to Africa (for a mission trip) when this all happened, and I almost canceled my trip because I was so sad and depressed. I cried almost every day in my room because I didn’t know how to get out of the situation. I came in here a few days ago just singing praises to God in thankfulness to the Habitat community. They will always be in our prayers. Everybody that donated and supported this will always be in our prayers.”
Stephens made it a point to note that this project is “100% an exception” in terms of what Habitat typically does.
“Let’s be clear, Habitat is not looking at getting into this business in the future,” he said. “But we’re honored to have done it this time, especially for women of God. We’re a Christian organization. I won’t say that was the reason we got involved — we want to be involved in anything that betters our community — but that certainly helped along the way that these were people who devote their life to Christ.”
Stephens did not want to place blame on anyone, saying there could have been some miscommunication and that Habitat assessed the contractor may have “gotten in over his head.” Instead, Stephens wants to help use the situation to help educate the community on the proper steps to take for any restorations or additions to a home.
Todd Millay, owner of Millay Legacy Homes and T. A. Millay Construction as well as former Home Builders Association of Owensboro president, was one of the key players in donating time and services to help see the project to completion.
He said homeowners should seek a registered builder because they have references on file and are bound to do a contract with a payment schedule.
“It’s very important to have an actual legal contract that states everything,” Millay said. “It is an uncommon practice, for a registered builder especially, to take any money before the beginning of a project. Most of us have enough capital to where we can start a project without taking a deposit from a homeowner. The final payment should only come after the building is 100% complete.”
Stephens added, “It’s crucial that folks treat it like a job interview. You’re hiring somebody to do a job. You should get multiple bids, you should get a written paper, and you should have a payment schedule in advance.”
Stephens said the project was made possible because of community actors such as Millay; a local church donating some money; Owensboro Insulation donating services, labor and materials; Carpets Unlimited donating installation and materials; and other contractors either donating everything or charging very little.
“This could have been a large hit on our budget,” he said. “But it’s going to be a minor thing and worth every penny.”
