By ERIKA JARAMILLO, Reporter, The Eagle

Althea Jenkins worked ferociously inside a wood-frame home at the far end of Aggie Way in Bryan as trickles of sweat dripped from her face.

Her 11-year-old son, Kaleb, stood next to her, driving nails to build a two-bedrooom, one-bathroom house in the Angels Gate subdivision.

"I want to be here every step of the way. I'm going to be here as long as I can stay," the 49-year-old Jenkins said on the first day of a three-day build by Habitat for Humanity and the local Home Builders Association.

"We've waited a long time for this. Everything is going to look so nice."

After completing more than 300 hours of "sweat equity" required by Habitat for Humanity, the Jenkinses were rewarded with this home. All potential homeowners must contribute several hundred hours of labor helping other families in need before they can qualify to own their own houses.

At 7 a.m. Tuesday, the two members of the Jenkins family stood in front of a slab of concrete on an empty plot of land. The Jenkinses knew then that they'd be moving into their new home built with the help of sponsors, volunteers and other Habitat families within 72 hours.

About 20 local homebuilders and other industry professionals also donated their time and labor Tuesday and Wednesday, and they will return Thursday, to help complete Habitat for Humanity and the Home Builders Association's latest undertaking, dubbed "Extreme Build."

The project, which is designed to give low-income families the opportunity to own their own homes, is among many completed in the Bryan-College Station area: Within the past 19 years, more than 170 houses have been built by Habitat.

Under a partnership formed in 2006, Habitat and the builders association vowed to complete a new project every year. In 2007, the organizations built a house in one day. In 2008, they built seven houses in seven days. The Jenkinses' home marks their first 72-hour build.

To ensure that the Jenkinses' 850-square-foot home is completed in the allotted time, construction was to proceed 24 hours a day. On Wednesday, the construction team was ahead of schedule.

"We are grateful for this opportunity to build a home in partnership with the Jenkins family," said Jerry Ponzio, president of the Bryan-College Station Home Builders Association. "[We] enjoy working with Habitat for Humanity on challenging projects that encourage membership involvement while helping a deserving family."

Dena Freeman, the project's spokeswoman, said the builders association organized the project in about eight months. Like the labor, all of the solicited materials to build the house were collected as donations, including 70 12-foot sections of Sheetrock, 500 pieces of 2-by-4 and 2-by-6 hard-plank siding, 60 sheets of long-board deck wood and 131/2 squares of roofing shingles.

Freeman said the value of the completed home would be about $70,000 to $80,000.

"We're going to have the walls painted. The Brazos Valley Bombers are coming to landscape as well," Freeman said, referring to the Texas Collegiate Baseball League based in Bryan since 2007.

The Jenkinses will have to furnish their own home.

"I am very lucky," Kaleb said about the whole package. The family will receive its keys during a ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday.

In 2008, Jenkins completed an application to receive a new home because of fears that the living conditions in their north Bryan neighborhood -- trash in the streets, disputes with neighbors and older children bullying her son in her home -- were putting her son's life in danger.

"Kaleb was scared to go outside. I was scared he was going to get shot just riding his bicycle," Jenkins said.

Jenkins' 82-year-old mother, Pansy King, was at the construction site for moral support this week. She also said she was glad her grandson would be able to play in the streets safely.

"Kaleb didn't want a fence [around his new home]," King said. "He's lived in different apartments all his life; he felt jailed. Now he can see people and the horses all around him."