Three years ago, Abby, Dale and Erik Serjeant  were living in the family car. Today they own a home in Arnold, PA.  Now how does this happen?

     The Serjeants lived in Washington State.  Dale and Abby are college graduates and both had full time jobs. Abby lost her job in Seattle which placed a burden on their finances so they sold their house, cashed in their savings to pay off debt and moved to Irwin to stay with a relative. Those arrangements did not work out.

     The Serjeants were working at the time cleaning offices in Robinson
and making $7/hr. which wasn’t enough to afford any of the rents in the
area. This lead to the situation where their son Erik would sleep in the
car at night while they worked and then at daylight, Dale and Abby took
Erik to get cleaned up, grab breakfast and prepare for public school. Then
it was time to find a safe place to park so they could nap before picking
Erik up and starting again. They couldn’t find other jobs.

     They kept trying to find a program where they might receive some
assistance but always got the same answers, “No room at the homeless
shelters.” Dale then made a call to a Westmoreland County homeless
advocate and learned about the Interfaith Hospitality Network, a ministry
of the Allegheny Valley Association of Churches since 1993. (This AVAC
started the Habitat affiliate in our area)

     Once in the program, it was obvious this family wanted to improve
their situation. Both found jobs at Leeds - at first temporary and now
permanent. A model family, they eventually were chosen to begin the first
Transitional Housing program for AVAC in a house in Arnold.  Dr. Legge,
President of HFHAV, suggested to them that they might qualify for a Habitat house - they couldn’t believe their ears. It took them about a year of trying as they got their lives stabilized, but they applied and were
chosen to purchase the house in Arnold.

     Homelessness has taught Dale, who was an insurance manager in
Washington State, to forgive. “If you can’t say that, it’s a longer road,”
he said. “And you can’t blame others.” “This is a real blessing and I
want to give all the glory to God,” he said. “Without Him, there wouldn’t
be an AVAC or a Habitat,” Dale said. Not having a house after owning one
hurts, Abby said. “It’s never the same again. But you keep going and try
to make the best out of it. It’s difficult,” she said. Families must try
to keep life as normal as possible for children. “They still need to do
their homework and have fun,” she said.

     Neither had seriously held a hammer before. Now they enjoy it and
want to help other people leave homelessness. “It’s pretty cool,” Erik
said about helping to build a house that the family lives in. Erik spent
the summer working with the Habitat volunteers while Mom and Dad were
working!! 

     To view an album on the Serjeant house click here.

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Habitat for Humanity Allegheny Valley
PO Box 147, Natrona Heights, PA 15065.
Cell: (412) 889-5033 email: diane@habitatav.org

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