What makes a great Mother's Day? Is it the gifts of love or the nearness of family?

Maybe it's the handmade cards that are still dripping wet with paint and the smiles on our children's faces. Or perhaps it's the husband who does the household chores for a day, and adds too much soap to the laundry.

Mother's Day means different things to different people.

For one Tracy mom, Mother's Day will be made even more special because her family will soon have their own home, from Habitat for Humanity.

Since its founding in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller, Habitat for Humanity has spread worldwide and has built more than 250,000 homes in 90 countries, providing shelter and homes for more than 1 million people. The idea came about from a visit the Fullers took in 1965 to a small Christian farming community known as Koinonia Farm just outside Americus, Ga. The Fullers applied what they learned there to families in developing countries — building homes for families in need and selling them at no profit.

Years later, the Fullers returned to the United States and started the first chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

In Tracy there will soon be a newly completed Habitat home to add to the list. Located at 212 South St., the project has been under way for two years. Permits and paperwork, along with moving an existing house to another lot in town, accounted for most of the time. When

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completed, the three-bedroom house will have 1,400 square feet of room for the family of four that will move in later this year. The lot has also been subdivided to accommodate another Habitat house in the future.

"This is a project that the entire community can appreciate," said Tracy City Councilman Steve Abercrombie, who said he is delighted to be a part of the program. "We all remember the joy of our first home, and it's nice to be able to share that joy with someone else. I encourage everyone to get involved with this home, either with their time or through a monetary amount. It means so much to be able to do this for one of our own families here in town."

Getting a Habitat home is not easy. Families must fill out detailed applications and, in this case, also be residents of the city in which the homes are being built. The applications go to a review board, where the number of applicants is narrowed down. The board then interviews the families selected for the homes at their current residences. Once the families are chosen, they must commit to volunteering 500 hours of work on their Habitat home.

It is estimated that the Tracy house will be finished in early fall. However, much work remains and the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity needs help.

Volunteers are needed who can lay carpet, install kitchen cabinets, and do landscaping, painting and other jobs. Also needed are people who can do plumbing and electrical work.

Donations also are needed to keep the project on schedule and on budget. These donations can be kitchen appliances, cabinets, countertops, window blinds, carpet, drywall and door hardware.

Landscaping materials and someone to do concrete work are needed for the outside. Monetary donations are also welcome.

For more information on the Habitat for Humanity house in Tracy, please call 209-830-8662 or 209-830-6788.

A house is a building made to stand strong, the love that fills those walls is what makes that house a home. Happy Mother's Day!

Anne Marie Fuller's column appears Fridays. She is a Tracy Arts Commissioner and the host of the television show, "Helpful Hints with Anne Marie," which airs at 7 p.m. Fridays and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays on Channel 26 in Tracy. It can also be seen at 3:30 p.m. Thursdays in Stockton and Manteca. Contact her at annemarietv@juno.com.