House # 30

Kaci Cecil and Cody Hartman Family

Kaci was born in Sioux Falls, SD but grew up in Madison, SD with her dad and four sisters. She graduated from Madison High School in 2004 and continued her education by taking a course in Medical Billing and Claims through the U.S. Career Institute. She is currently working weekends as a Certified Medical Aid at an Assistant Living Center; otherwise she is a stay at home mom to her five year old son, Gage, and one year old daughter, Aubrianna.

Cody was born in Sioux Falls, SD but grew up in Oldham, SD with his mom, step dad, brother and sister. He graduated from Oldham Ramona High School in 2004 and continued his education by taking a welding course. He currently works during the week as a welder in Brookings, SD and then takes care of his kids on the weekends.

They met each other in Madison when they were only fourteen years old and started dating when they were fifteen. They have now been together seven years and are still as happy as ever. They are very proud of their two kids. Gage is currently attending preschool but will start kindergarten in Brookings this fall. He loves to play outside and wants to take karate lessons this summer. He's a very active child.  Aubrianna is a very laid back little girl. She's happy all the time and already talks a lot. She wants to do whatever Gage does and doesn't care if she's too young or small.

Kaci and Cody decided to apply for a Habitat house when the one they are currently living in started to need more work then they could afford. It's slowly falling apart and the house would cost more to fix than it’s worth. They also wanted to get closer to Cody's work because he is driving thirty minutes both ways to get to and from work and with gas prices rising it's starting to get more and more expensive. They thought Habitat would be a good way to get a new home and to start there lives off in Brookings. To Kaci the thought of renting is just a waste of money especially when you have kids. You pay and pay and nothing is ever yours. This way they get a nice affordable home that they get to start their own memories in.  They are very excited to be getting a home this summer and are counting down the days until it's finished.