GIVING

One House Built on a Foundation of Love

Marine veteran Shawn Shoen has faced challenges for which even his military training left him unprepared. A single father of three, Shawn’s life was dramatically changed when he lost a leg in an accident caused by a drunk driver.

His disability challenged him physically and emotionally and led to unexpected financial hardships for him and his boys. He worried that he would never be able to give his children the home that they deserved. That worry subsided thanks to the alliance between Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity and the Martin/Faribault County Habitat affiliate in southern Minnesota.

Normally it can be a stretch for a small, all-volunteer-run affiliate to build one home per year. But when Thrivent Builds offered to fund 70 percent of the cost of a second home and local Thrivent chapters, with the help of area churches, promised to come up with an additional 10 percent, the affiliate saw this as a chance to take the next step in growing its organization. It would build two homes in 2006, the second one with Shawn.

While attending a required finance class, Shawn met Rhonda Dettmer, a single parent of three who was building the other home. Rhonda faced her own battles. Her daughter, Aleia, was born with a serious seizure disorder. Medical expenses mounted, and Rhonda struggled to find decent housing she could afford. As with Shawn, life changed with Habitat for Humanity.

As Shawn and Rhonda continued attending the required classes, they learned a lot about budgeting and finances. They also learned about each other. They shared the same struggles; the same dreams. And soon, they decided, they would share their lives together, blending their two families under one Thrivent Builds roof.

This heartwarming twist of fate freed up a house and allowed the Martin/Faribault County Habitat affiliate to offer another family the same opportunity Rhonda and Shawn had been given.

And Shawn and Rhonda are thankful—not only because the affiliate helped them build a house, they helped them bring their families home.

“Had it not been for Thrivent Builds,” Rhonda explained, “Shawn’s house would not have been built—not this year, anyway—and I may never have met him.”

Shawn and Rhonda were married on Sept. 30, 2006, in Fairmont, Minnesota, and now reside in their new home.