Why GOP Sen. Curtis joined forces with 9 other senators to fight changes in a rural housing program

By  Megan Banta

Heber City • McKeil Mahoney took a couple of deep breaths to ward off happy tears as she stood in the home of her new garage.

Mahoney and her husband, DJ, grew up in the Heber Valley but had been living about 40 minutes away since they got married. They weren’t able to live closer to family until they qualified with Self-Help Homes, a Provo-based nonprofit that helps families build houses in rural areas.

“For us, there’s no other way we could afford to be up here,” Mahoney, a massage therapist, said during a snowy celebration before they and nine other families got the keys to their new homes. “To be near both our families.”