Mountain Spirit Habitat For Humanity broke ground last week on what will be a five-bedroom, two-bathroom house for Beth Jolley and her six kids.

If all goes as planned, Jolley will move in this September. She comes from northern Montana and moved to Powell in 2005 with her family. She will be a first-time homeowner.

“I’m really excited,” she said.

Without Habitat’s assistance, Jolley said it would have been considerably more difficult for her to afford a new home.

“They’ve been very generous,” she said.

With all that’s been happening with the COVID-19 pandemic, Nikki Hoellwarth, executive director of Mountain Spirit, said homes have become “a refuge from the chaos.” There “could not be a more perfect time to present this gift,” she said.

“I call it a gift because of the unique opportunity that Habitat for Humanity is providing to Beth,” Hoellwarth said. “But make no mistake: Beth will own this home. Our motto at Habitat is to give a hand up, and not a hand out.”

Scott Shoopman will be the contractor for the new home. Shoopman has built many homes around the area, including his own modern-style house north of Powell.

Last October, the nonprofit organization held a demolition party when the house that previously sat on the North Day Street property was torn down to make way for what would become Jolley’s house; that home had been damaged by fire in 2017.

The property sits near the fairgrounds and Powell Middle School. Paulette Bagnell, who serves on the Mountain Spirit Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors, called it “a great spot for a home.”

While Mountain Spirit has built homes in Cody, this will be the first the organization has built in Powell since 2007.