By Lauren McLane
Sentinel Reporter
July 11, 2011
The Sentinel - cumberlink.com

Under glaring hot sun, the seven-member Hooper family got the keys to their new house Sunday afternoon.

The 140-year-old renovated farmhouse that parents Torrius and Wayne and children Deja, 12, Warren, 10, Wayne Jr. 8, Khalil, 6, and Nehemiah, 4, will soon call home was renovated by Cumberland Valley Habitat for Humanity.

This is the 32nd home the organization has built since 1993, according to executive director Jerry Nichols. The house on Greason Road was originally intended for a smaller family, but then a larger family, the Hoopers, came in needing a home, Habitat changed the plans to accommodate the Hoopers in the house.

"Their lease expired earlier than expected," Nichols said of the Hooper family, so Habitat made finding them new habitation a priority.

In order to made the house suitable for a family with five young children, all of whom have allergies or asthma or both, several non-load-bearing walls were taken down to change the configuration of the downstairs.

Originally, the laundry room and the kitchen were roughly the same size, Wayne Sr. said.

"The kids all like being in the kitchen, talking while Mom's cooking, so we really wanted the kitchen to be bigger," he said.

By moving the wall dividing the kitchen and the laundry room 4 feet into the laundry room, the contractor was able to create a kitchen large enough for all seven Hoopers to sit at the same table at the same time, something they've not been able to do before.

"Before, you couldn't have more than two people in the kitchen at once. We were always shooing the kids out, saying, ‘Go eat somewhere else,'" Torrius said.

Currently, the family lives in a three-bedroom condo in Pheasant Run Condos, North Middleton Township.

The home in Plainfield has four bedrooms, allowing daughter Deja, 12, to have her own room. The four boys will each sleep two to a room initially, although Torrius thinks they're likely to end up together by choice rather than by necessity.

"They just all love to be together," she said.

‘Blessing'

"It's just beautiful. It's such a blessing to have this opportunity," Torrius said. She is a full-time student and a stay-at-home-mother.

"The volunteers and staff have all become more like family. They're not contractors or staff. We don't have any other family close by so they've become our family," she said.

When the house receives its certificate of occupancy permit, which should be Thursday, the family will be able to fully move in. For the rest of the summer, the children will get to play in a big backyard and enjoy fresh air and sunshine, Torrius said.

"They're really excited. It's a breath of fresh air. There's space and the kids have room to grow. We won't have to move again. They can leave off here for college.

"It will be so awesome to have everyone in the kitchen. We'll be able to have conversations and have space and really be able to talk to the kids about what's happening in school," she added.

Come fall, they will have to change school districts. Currently, they are enrolled in the Carlisle Area School District, but the move will put them in the Big Spring School District.

The children themselves are very excited about the new house.

"I like all the colors in the floors. I think it's much better. We can all be in the kitchen together or the living room together," Warren said.