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New home a sign of pride for deaf Davenport father
Without uttering a sound, Tony Threlkeld uses his hands and fingers - flying in a blur to convey how proud he is of his new Davenport home.
Relying on a sign language interpreter as he speaks, the
41-year-old deaf single father of two sons smiles as he signs that his new Habitat for Humanity home on East 8th Street will tremendously improve their lives.
"Now, I'll know when someone's here to visit," he said.
Special adaptations - including a doorbell that "rings" with a flashing light and smoke detectors that "sound" with bright strobe lights - will greet Threlkeld and his children, Kevin, 15, and Christopher, 12, when they move this weekend into the 70th Habitat for Humanity home built in the Quad-Cities.
This is the first home Threlkeld, a meat cutter at Tyson Foods in Joslin, Ill., has owned. And it's happening in the same week he celebrates his 41st birthday, he said.
Until now, his family has been living in a cramped apartment, but Threlkeld described it as a sort of lonely existence. Often, when his friends came to visit, Threlkeld didn't know they were at the door. He couldn't hear their knocks or doorbell-ringing, and the height of the windows didn't help much, he said.
Worse, a few times, his children got locked out, and he had no idea, because he couldn't hear their knocking or yelling.
"I finally had to climb up to a window and get his attention," his oldest son, Kevin, said.
And when Threlkeld's deaf friends did visit, they often were too loud for the neighbors without realizing it, Threlkeld said. He explained that instead of being able to say, "Hey!" or yell to get each other's attention, he and his friends stomp the ground so they can "hear" the vibrations and know to look up.
But when they did this, the neighbors below often would beat right back, and his sons would have to ask the friends to quiet down, he said.
Threlkeld was born with hearing, but lost that ability after an illness struck when he was 3.
He never thought about applying for a Habitat for Humanity home until one of the organization's volunteers, who works with Threlkeld at Tyson, began talking to him about the possibility.
She asked him about it for three years, and he kept saying no until last year, when he finally gave in. Before he knew it, he was approved, and the project was started, he said.
Kristi Crafton, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Quad-Cities, said potential homeowners must fit into three criteria to qualify for the program: 1)
They must fall within 30 to 60 percent of the area median income; 2) They must pay back the help with 250 hours of "sweat equity" work for the organization; and 3) They must show a need.
Threlkeld fit all of those criteria, she said.
The new two-story house will be much less expensive than his former $810-a-month rental. His mortgage has been set at 30 percent of his income, meaning he'll only need to pay $480 per month, and that includes taxes and insurance, Threlkeld said.
"Very good," Crafton chimed in, praising him for paying attention in his Habitat-required housing finance classes. "He's got his stuff down."
Leading a tour of the home this week, construction director Ron Tuftee said he can't say enough about all the volunteers who worked so hard on this project. He also appreciates the donations from businesses that help make these builds possible, he said.
At the end of the house tour, Threlkeld shows off three exact models of the structure that sit on a shelf in the unfinished basement.
Through sign language, he explains that he studied drafting in high school, and decided to make wooden and Styrofoam models of the house to give to Habitat for Humanity at today's dedication ceremony.
"I made them by the exact measurements," he said. "It's my way of saying thanks."
Without uttering a sound, Tony Threlkeld uses his hands and fingers - flying in a blur to convey how proud he is of his new Davenport home.
Relying on a sign language interpreter as he speaks, the
41-year-old deaf single father of two sons smiles as he signs that his new Habitat for Humanity home on East 8th Street will tremendously improve their lives.
"Now, I'll know when someone's here to visit," he said.
Special adaptations - including a doorbell that "rings" with a flashing light and smoke detectors that "sound" with bright strobe lights - will greet Threlkeld and his children, Kevin, 15, and Christopher, 12, when they move this weekend into the 70th Habitat for Humanity home built in the Quad-Cities.
This is the first home Threlkeld, a meat cutter at Tyson Foods in Joslin, Ill., has owned. And it's happening in the same week he celebrates his 41st birthday, he said.
Until now, his family has been living in a cramped apartment, but Threlkeld described it as a sort of lonely existence. Often, when his friends came to visit, Threlkeld didn't know they were at the door. He couldn't hear their knocks or doorbell-ringing, and the height of the windows didn't help much, he said.
Worse, a few times, his children got locked out, and he had no idea, because he couldn't hear their knocking or yelling.
"I finally had to climb up to a window and get his attention," his oldest son, Kevin, said.
And when Threlkeld's deaf friends did visit, they often were too loud for the neighbors without realizing it, Threlkeld said. He explained that instead of being able to say, "Hey!" or yell to get each other's attention, he and his friends stomp the ground so they can "hear" the vibrations and know to look up.
But when they did this, the neighbors below often would beat right back, and his sons would have to ask the friends to quiet down, he said.
Threlkeld was born with hearing, but lost that ability after an illness struck when he was 3.
He never thought about applying for a Habitat for Humanity home until one of the organization's volunteers, who works with Threlkeld at Tyson, began talking to him about the possibility.
She asked him about it for three years, and he kept saying no until last year, when he finally gave in. Before he knew it, he was approved, and the project was started, he said.
Kristi Crafton, executive director of Habitat for Humanity Quad-Cities, said potential homeowners must fit into three criteria to qualify for the program: 1)
They must fall within 30 to 60 percent of the area median income; 2) They must pay back the help with 250 hours of "sweat equity" work for the organization; and 3) They must show a need.
Threlkeld fit all of those criteria, she said.
The new two-story house will be much less expensive than his former $810-a-month rental. His mortgage has been set at 30 percent of his income, meaning he'll only need to pay $480 per month, and that includes taxes and insurance, Threlkeld said.
"Very good," Crafton chimed in, praising him for paying attention in his Habitat-required housing finance classes. "He's got his stuff down."
Leading a tour of the home this week, construction director Ron Tuftee said he can't say enough about all the volunteers who worked so hard on this project. He also appreciates the donations from businesses that help make these builds possible, he said.
At the end of the house tour, Threlkeld shows off three exact models of the structure that sit on a shelf in the unfinished basement.
Through sign language, he explains that he studied drafting in high school, and decided to make wooden and Styrofoam models of the house to give to Habitat for Humanity at today's dedication ceremony.
"I made them by the exact measurements," he said. "It's my way of saying thanks."