BATON ROUGE - Habitat for Humanity of Greater Baton Rouge started its 20th annual Women Build on Saturday.

The program brought together women volunteers to build a home alongside a qualified low-income woman and her family. Its goal is to empower women in providing for their families with safe and affordable housing, with 95 percent of Habitat homes in the Greater Baton Rouge area being owned by women.

Future homeowner Ms. Shirley, grandmother of two, will purchase the home after she and the other volunteers complete construction. She originally heard about the program from a friend who is also a Habitat homeowner.

"Thank you for believing in me and helping me achieve my dream of homeownership," Ms. Shirley said. 

Construction will continue over the next eight to ten weeks.