Trisha Powell was having dinner at El Mezcal when she got word that she was in line for a Habitat for Humanity house.

Two and half years later, Powell stood in front of a group of about 60 volunteers and drove the first nail into her soon-to-be home on Comfort Lane in North Lawrence. “I’ve learned the meaning of patience,” she said.

Saturday morning, crews came out to help raise the first walls for the three-bedroom house that should be ready for Powell and her two sons by this spring.

“I’ve been up since 2:30 a.m. That’s how excited I am for this day to finally be here,” Powell said in between receiving congratulatory hugs from those who came to the nail driving ceremony.

Powell, who will be spending every Saturday at the construction site until the home is completed, already knows some of her new neighbors.

Cathy Brittain, a friend who moved into a Habitat for Humanity house just up the street, had once threatened to drag Powell to a Habitat for Humanity meeting.

Powell, who operates an in-home day care, said she had previously looked into buying the home she rented, but with two boys to take care of she couldn’t afford the monthly mortgage payment.

“I couldn’t ask for a happier moment,” Powell said as walls started to go into place.

The house is the 72nd one for Lawrence Habitat for Humanity.

As one crew was raising the walls of the house on Comfort Lane, another one was painting a house on Elmwood and 15th streets.

Habitat for Humanity is just $6,000 shy of completing that house and hopes to move that family into the home by Christmas time, board president Marilynn Harp said.