When Kimberly Collins received the keys to her new home in Pleasant Grove, her tears flowed freely.

Her dream of owning a home had finally come true, with the help of Alabama Power Service Organization-Magic City Chapter volunteers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. APSO, together with the IBEW, built a Habitat for Humanity home for Collins and her family. On Friday, the 10-day build culminated with a dedication ceremony where volunteers presented the home to Collins and her three children, Kamron, 15, Kamari, 11, and JaMerriah, 6.

“I just want to say thank you to the Alabama Power Service Organization, Habitat and all the volunteers,” said Collins. “This means so much to me and my family. It’s a blessing, and it has been a great experience.”

Including this house, the Magic City Chapter has joined with Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity to build 24 houses in 20 years. The first home was built in response to the devastating April 8, 1998, tornadoes that swept Alabama.

Habitat home built with Alabama Power Service Organization volunteers complete from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Charles Moore, president and CEO of Greater Birmingham Habitat for Humanity, commended Magic City Chapter volunteers for their efforts year after year to help provide homes for local families.

“There’s such a need for affordable housing,” said Moore. “Our families work very hard, and contribute their sweat equity and a down payment, but at the end of the day, it would be totally impossible for us to do this without groups like Alabama Power, the Alabama Power Service Organization, the IBEW and the many thousands of volunteers who participate with us on these projects.”

Kimberly Collins, right, accepts her new home at a dedication ceremony. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

Troy Sanderson, line construction coordinator at Alabama Power Patton Chapel Crew Headquarters, said after building Habitat homes for 20 years, APSO volunteers have the process down to a science.

“It’s a hectic schedule,” said Sanderson, who has lost count of the number of APSO Habitat homes he has helped build. “It’s a lot of work in a short time frame. To get it all in, we know that each day, we’ve got to complete the work for that day to get to the finished product. Over the years, the process has evolved, and now it’s almost like clockwork.”

More than 200 volunteers worked from sunup to sundown, swinging saws, hammering boards, painting walls, installing sheetrock and laying floors. But the volunteers agree it has been worth every minute.

“I helped build a house several years ago, and it took four months,” said Kevin Chappell, electrical and instrumentation journeyman at Miller Steam Plant. “Seeing this house come up so quickly, it’s really kind of crazy. But it’s a testament to teamwork and how you can have a lot of people with one goal in mind, and everybody can come together and accomplish so much.”

The new Collins home in Pleasant Grove is the 24th Habitat home built with the help of the Magic City Chapter of the Alabama Power Service Organization. (Michael Tomberlin/Alabama NewsCenter)

The four-bedroom, two-bath, all-electric home has been equipped with an energy-efficient heating and cooling system, Energy Star appliances and an electric water heater. It received a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) designation, which is the industry standard for measuring efficiency.

Keith Gilliland, assistant business manager for the IBEW System Council U-19 Office, said his organization was proud to take part in the project with APSO.

“Our members are out there, along with Alabama Power employees as a whole, involved in the community, civic organizations, charitable causes and their churches,” Gilliland said. “We saw this as an extension of that. We could come together collectively as a group and enjoy that fellowship while giving back, so we jumped at the opportunity. This has been a positive experience for our employees and for our members, and we hope to continue that.”

Habitat for Humanity helps make it easier for low-income families to buy their own homes. The houses are not free, by any means. Families are required to complete 300 hours of sweat equity on their own and other homes, attend 10 homebuyer education workshops, and pay a zero-interest mortgage and down payment.

The dedication highlight was when Alabama Power Birmingham Division Residential Marketing Manager Alisa Summerville presented Collins with the keys to her new home.

“Congratulations to you and your beautiful family for becoming homeowners,” said Summerville. “Just 10 days ago, this was a piece of land. Now it’s a home, thanks to all these volunteers. May you live in it, laugh in it and love in it for many years to come.”