“The best day is Home Blessing Day,” beams Shellie Barrus, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of Summit and Wasatch Counties. “Nothing beats handing over the key and watching someone step into homeownership—and the Habitat family.”
Observing Shellie on a construction site, charming a room at a fundraiser, or helping participants understand the complexities of home ownership offers few clues to her professional beginnings as an accountant. “That inner voice drove my transition, the voice many in our Chamber community recognize,” she smiles. The voice that says, ‘You can make a bigger difference.”
For more than a decade now, Shellie has brought her sharp financial mind and community heart to Habitat. Her résumé reads like a prep course for her job: general accountant at Catholic Community Services, managing housing loans for the State of Utah Housing Division, and working as a real estate escrow officer, skills she uses every time she helps families navigate the mortgage process.
Shellie says not everyone realizes that Habitat is the mortgage lender and participants make an affordable payment capped at 30 percent of income. Her background makes the dream feel doable, demystifying loan-to-income ratios, financing, titles, and closings.
“Sweat equity” is a Habitat core value. Shellie relates how families invest hundreds of hours swinging hammers and painting walls, literally building their future. Last summer, Habitat hit a milestone: five families worked shoulder-to-shoulder at Silver Creek Village. “They built a little community before they even moved in,” she recalls.
A lifelong Utahn, Shellie says our sense of community keeps her rooted here. “People here want our teachers, first responders, and service workers to be able to live here, too,” she says.
An avid traveler and yoga practitioner, she’s always looking to combine both, “the perfect way to recharge.” And yes, her inner accountant is never far away. “My heart is in community building, but I still love a perfectly balanced spreadsheet,” she says with a grin.