Photo by Travis Pratt Marialva De Matos stands on the lot of her own future Habitat for Humanity house off Madison Street in Frederick.

De Matos will soon start building her own house as part of Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County's first Women Build project.

"I'm blessed, it's wonderful," she said.

De Matos will build and occupy one half of the duplex.

The project will be Habitat's first project certified with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards. The LEED standards are used to determine the energy efficiency and environmental impact of a house.

De Matos said she has waited two years for the project to begin. An official start date has not been announced.

The organization has to raise more funds to pay $70,000 in impact and permit fees to the city and county.

De Matos said the last house she owned was in Brazil, where she came from 10 years ago as a single mother with two daughters.

After living in Silver Spring for two years, she moved to Frederick. She has found the surroundings here to be similar to the area she came from in southern Brazil.

Her daughters, now students at Frederick Community College, will live with her until they transfer to four-year colleges, she said.

Habitat will finance a no-interest mortgage for De Matos, who must qualify for the loan and will pay it off herself.

De Matos is a family support worker at Healthy Families of Frederick.

Jodye Roebuck, a Habitat board member, said De Matos has been so enthusiastic she has already volunteered nearly all of the 300 required "sweat equity" hours, a form of down payment.

De Matos said she is excited to start the real work of building.

As a Women Build project, the house will be built almost entirely by women and will probably take four months, Roebuck said.

"Most of our partner families are single mothers."

De Matos plans to continue to give back, using her backyard as a community garden, she said.

"It's one big family."