SHERIDAN — Carla Trier moved into her house, constructed by Habitat for Humanity of the Eastern Bighorns, on March 3, 2020. A week later, she was working from home because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trier was moving out of an apartment that was cold and moldy and recovering from a surgery while operating a local nonprofit in the middle of a pandemic. During this time of chaos, the home was — and continues to be — “a nice refuge for me,” Trier said.

“It was a huge blessing to me, to be in a safe place that was comfortable and new with nothing going wrong,” Trier said. “There is just huge value in it.”
Now more than ever, Habitat has received inquiries from people like Trier in need of a safe, affordable place to live, according to Executive Director Christine Dietrich. The work of the organization is continuing at a steady clip, but the nonprofit is also facing a barrage of challenges related to a low supply of available lots and high demand for new construction.