Alicia Wilkerson needed to move. Her four-bedroom, cinderblock apartment near the intersection of Weaver Street and Cornwallis Road was not a place the 30-year-old wanted to raise her four children.

The area was not safe with gangs and drug dealers nearby, she said. On the weekend she moved in two years ago, a child was shot, and she heard gun shots regularly thereafter.

She paid $800 a month in rent, and knew she'd be better off putting the money into a home mortgage in a safe neighborhood. Friends and colleagues told Wilkerson, who had recently been promoted to a project coordinator working with clinical trials at Duke University Medical Center, to look at Habitat for Humanity. But she was hesitant.

"I didn't know if I could handle building a house with children," she said.

Friends, including some who had gotten a house through Habitat, kept on pushing her to do it.

Eventually she decided to learn more. That's when she got excited and decided to "step on faith" to participate.

"I saw it working for other people," she said.

Durham County Habitat for Humanity applicants go through a multi-step process to get a home. An applicant must be a U.S. citizen or legal resident, have lived or worked in Durham County at least six months, have a need for "adequate shelter," and be willing to "partner" with the organization - from helping build the home to paying the mortgage.

After filling out the application, getting credit, employment, and other items verified, a volunteer selection committee will meet with the applicant and family to learn more about them. After the interview, members of the committee will decide whether to accept or deny the applicant.

Wilkerson was still worried about her children as she had to put in 250 hours of "sweat equity" of actually helping to build her houses and others. Luckily, she was able to find an affordable sitter.

Build-it-yourself home

After working nine-hour days during the week, she would spend eight hours on Saturdays building her own house with professionals and volunteers. "I'd get physically tired," she said. "But it was definitely worth it."

The two-story, four-bedroom, nearly 1,500-square-foot home is off Rock Street, near Morehead Avenue. She was instrumental in the look of the house, picking out the paint colors, flooring, cabinets and landscaping.

According to Mitzi Viola, development director of Habitat for Humanity of Durham, it costs approximately $100,000 to build each house, with $65,000 for materials and non-volunteer labor and the rest for land. Half of the cost comes through home sponsorships, while the rest are donations and mortgage payments from those living in a Habitat house.

"Affordability for Habitat in general is made possible by volunteer labor, donations of funds, and in-kind items and home sponsors," said Viola. Certain tasks like plumbing, electrical, and HVAC are performed by paid labor. The rest is done by volunteers, including the homeowner.

Wilkerson's house, dedicated Feb. 27, was sponsored by Catholic Coalition, a group of local Catholic churches.

She was a little worried about actually building the home but now loves it. She helped do everything from framing to siding to painting.

"I know every beam in my home," she said.

Her construction manager explained how to do the various tasks. She also gives credit to the volunteers who helped her.

"They take time out when they really don't have to," Wilkerson said. "I have never seen a group of people so dedicated."

Wilson still has to work off the "sweat equity" on other houses. But she plans to continue helping out after that. Already she's volunteered at ReStore, which is run by Durham and Orange counties' Habitat for Humanity. The store sells used household items out of the former Havertys furniture store on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard.

In addition to getting a home, Wilkerson credits the organization with helping her grow as a person and manager of her finances.

Besides helping to build the house, she pays the mortgage. Habitat loans have zero percent interest and average $450 to $500 a month including taxes and insurance. And if Wilkerson decides to move, she can sell her house like a traditional home except that Habitat has first right of refusal.

"We are hard-working people, not looking for hand out," she said. "It's a commitment."