ROGERS — Habitat for Humanity of Benton County will get a new home of its own after building more than 68 homes the past two decades.

The organization will close this month on the former Movie Gallery location at 1212 N. Walton Blvd. across from the new Harps Food Store in Bentonville, said Debby Wieneke, executive director of Habitat for Humanity.

Habitat has paid about $3,000 a month in rent at 908 S.E. 21st St. for about six years. It makes better financial sense for the group to put that money toward a building of its own, Wieneke said.

“This is definitely what is best for Habitat,” she said.

The group helps build and finance homes for people who may have fallen through the cracks in the traditional home-buying process, Wieneke said. Habitat finds sponsorships and financing for the homes and is able to build a $125,000 home for about $75,000. The lower price makes for more affordable payments for new homebuyers.

“It’s a hand up, not a handout,” she said.

That’s just what Habitat for Humanity needed when it came time to purchase its own building.

Habitat was about $75,000 short when it came to making a down payment on the North Walton building, appraised at $636,600 by the Benton County Assessor’s Office. The appraisal includes a neighboring office at 1210 N. Walton Blvd.

The Hunt family stepped forward to make the purchase possible. Johnelle Hunt gave Wieneke a $75,000 check recently in J.B. Hunt’s window-lit office atop the company’s headquarters in Pinnacle Hills in Rogers.

Wieneke told Hunt she cried when she found out about the donation.

“I know how that is when you work so hard for something,” Hunt said. “We get the joy of being blessed to help.”

The 14,000-square-foot building will more than double the space for Habitat’s ReStore center. The store sells new or gently used construction material donated by contractors or people doing home remodel projects. Material is generally sold at half price, Wieneke said.

“It keeps those things out of landfill and allows us to pay for administration and overhead costs,” she said.

Rustin Chrisco with Main Street Builders is a volunteer on the construction committee for Habitat and manages house framing. He said the current building is almost full.

“We’ve outgrown it,” he said. “We’ve been a product of our own success here.”

About 12,000 square feet of the new building will be dedicated to the store, with the remaining 2,000 square feet housing the group’s 10 full-time and part-time employees.

The group needs assistance to help with remodel costs to the building. Wieneke estimate they need about $150,000 to finish a back portion of the building and add heating and air conditioning.

“The community always stands behind us when we build homes,” Wieneke said. “If we can sell more, we can be more of an intricate part of solving the poverty challenges that we have in our community.”

Wieneke hopes increased revenue from the larger store will allow Habitat to retire the debt of the building sooner, as well as pay for building one more home a year.

The group will oversee construction of five homes this year in Benton County — two in Bentonville and one each in Gravette, Pea Ridge and Rogers. The projects will provide a safe place to live for 18 people, Wieneke said. Habitat has helped bring new housing to 181 people over the last 10 years.

Wieneke talked about one young boy whose family had just moved into their new home. The boy told her he was having his first sleepover because he had never before had his own bedroom. Another child was excited about having the school bus come to his front door. He was embarrassed about his previous home and always had the bus drop him off at the end of the street, Wieneke said.

The community steps in to help build Habitat for Humanity homes. Each home takes about 12 weeks to construct and requires about 2,200 volunteer hours. Recipients of the homes must put in 400 “sweat equity” hours as well, Wieneke said.