Wednesday, March 2, 2005
Drew Hanley of Memphis and Dan Martin of Rochester sheet rock a bedroom wall.Webb County Habitat's office manager, who supervises Americorps workers assigned to Habitat, moved into an apartment in the right Laredo , Tex., school district only to have the boundaries change to the worst district.
She felt trapped.
As a Habitat employee she never considered applying for one of the homes. Separated from her husband, her limited income met the earnings test and her work with Habitat on other program homes satisfied the sweat equity rule. Pushed by her colleagues and the threat of a poor education for her daughter, Berta applied literally hours before the deadline.
On the strength of her facts and an essay, she was approved.
"My life had come full circle, but I still did not know what was going to happen," Berta says when coaxed to tell about her home.
Her Habitat colleagues, fellow homeowners and the construction businesses that donate time and materials conspired to make Bertha think her home was a long way from completion. Invited one December evening to participate in a "land blessing" before construction began, Bertha was told to close her eyes and envision her future home.
When she opened her eyes the finished house next door was illuminated with Christmas lighting and decorations, but more importantly ready for occupancy by Bertha and her daughter.
Bertha is only one of the hard-working home owners whose life has improved because Habitat and its volunteers are committed to providing decent housing for people who want to be productive members of society and improve the lives of their children.
"Everyone is the same in God's eyes, but not everyone has a level playing field," says Carol Sherwood, the head of the local Habitat chapter. "The beauty of Habitat is that we help our homeowners realize their potential."
Sherwoood has numerous success stories about Habitat homeowners (In their 10 years, the Webb County chapter has never foreclosed on a homeowner). She credits the chapter's family support services unit, which like the construction unit, is the chapter's homeowners mentoring new homeowners. What she does not say, but is obvious, is that everyone becomes one family.
She has statistics that point out that Habitat homes open doors to progess; Homeowners' employment, incomes and education improve.
"Once they take pride in (their own construction) work and their home, they don't want government subsidies anymore. They get their GEDs. They improve their employment status and their incomes go higher."
When the Alma crew began work Monday, competition to beat Sherwood's daily goals was the driving force on the site.
"We kicked some major you know what today." "Hey, We sheet rocked two rooms this morning. We rock." Crews measured each other's progress.
By Wednesday the talk was about the homeowners. Students talked about homeowners Lillia, Letty, Nicasio and Bertha like nieces and nephews comparing family news. It will be interesting to read the students journals of the trip when they are posted on line as part of "The Never-ending Journey" in March.
For more information about Habitat For Humanity go to www.habitat.org
For more information about The Webb County chapter go to www.habitatlaredo.org
-30-
Posted: Thu, March 3rd, 2005 at 12:24AM
