Shantell and Picard Garnet live in a 96-square-foot shack, with scrap plyboard sides and a tarpaulin roof, on a small lot in Wai'anae.

Near the makeshift dwelling sits a concrete foundation — the remains of their family's home, which was condemned in 2000 because of severe termite damage and other major problems.

Its occupants — Shantell Garnet's big, multigenerational family — scattered. Most went to live with relatives, crowding into homes packed with people.

But the Garnets stayed, tearing down the home by hand, living in a tent, and later the shack, on the dusty lot devoid of shade. They waited, praying for the day when the family could rebuild.

Finally, that day has come.

With the help of Habitat for Humanity, the family will build an 1,800-square-foot, six-bedroom home on their corner lot.

They broke ground yesterday, with another Habitat family and a handful of volunteers cheering them on.

Once the Imipono Street home is complete, three generations and at least nine people will share its roof.

"I can't wait!" exclaimed April Ho'ohuli, Shantell Garnet's mother, who lives in a Poka'i Bay studio with two other daughters, two grandchildren and a niece. The 50-year-old was near tears yesterday at the thought of rebuilding on the foundation of her childhood home.

Kirk Durante, president of the Leeward O'ahu affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, said the groundbreaking is the first of the new year.

The group has built or started construction on 23 homes since its inception in 1996.

In the coming fiscal year, they want to build 12 homes. The Ho'ohuli home will be the fifth home they've constructed in their current fiscal year, which started in June.

"The need is here," Durante said. "There are people who are homeless, but they have land. This program allows us to build decent, affordable homes for people who are in need."

Durante said most families Habitat helps have Hawaiian Homestead lots. Most clients are homeless or on the verge of homelessness.

To qualify for the program, a family must meet certain income requirements, be able to pay a $1,000 down payment, and afford a mortgage on the home.

Most families pay mortgage payments of between $325 to $350 for the Habitat homes, which are built with volunteer labor.

For the Garnets, who celebrated the groundbreaking yesterday outside their shack with family members, the prospect of a real roof over their heads, electricity and hot water is almost too much to imagine. For years, they have been making do with so little.

"It's hard cooking, bathing, sleeping," Picard Garnet said.

Shantell Garnet, who is pregnant and rested a plate of food on her belly, added she especially feared bringing her first-born into such squalor.

The baby is expected within weeks.

Reach Mary Vorsino at mvorsino@honoluluadvertiser.com.