Last night at the W.A. Foster Center in Goldsboro, we had the absolute joy and honor of celebrating one of the most powerful milestones in a Habitat homeowner’s journey: paying off the mortgage.
But for these nine Habitat homeowners, the evening’s Mortgage Shredding Ceremony was about more than just the end of their payments. It a celebration of the lives they built for their families and all their successes along the way – achievements they attributed directly to the foundations of strength, stability and self-reliance that Habitat gave them the opportunity to build.
One of the homeowners, Gwen Allen, reminded us just how transformational a stable home can be. She told about the moment she learned she would become a Habitat homeowner – how she had just gotten home from a late shift at Cooper Bussmann and her son told her a man had called a few hours earlier, and how despite it being 2AM, she couldn’t wait, calling him back, waking him up, and changing her life forever.
Today, Ms. Allen credits her home and the stability it provided with her family’s success. She was able to go back to school and today holds a BSN and is a supervisor at the O’Berry Center. Her children also have thrived, with one son working in security in New York City, another working as a police detective, and her daughter about to graduate from medical school.
“I thank Habitat for all of that,” she said.
Robin Ward also shared her story – one of persistence and perseverance. Like many of our more than 100 homeowners, she was denied the first time she applied. In her case, it was because her low income was too low. But instead of giving up, she picked up a second job and applied again, finding out she was approved after returning home from a visit to the Habitat ReStore. Today she’s a supervisor for the Gateway Transit Authority here in Goldsboro and her daughter is a teacher – an example of the hard work and dedication of our homeowners as they work to build better futures for themselves.
“Anything worth having is worth pushing for,” she said.
Another homeowner, Maria Rodriguez shared how she first learned about Habitat from a flyer at Walmart and how, since it was before Habitat had an established office, she had to call over and over before finally getting hold of somebody, and how after applying and waiting to hear back, she was packed and about to leave for a trip to Maryland when she got the call saying she’d been accepted into the program.
“I called my family and told them I couldn’t come, that I had to build my house,” she said.
And she didn’t stop there. Maria has helped numerous other Habitat homeowners build their homes and their futures as a former Family Services Committee and Board of Directors member.
Today, Maria is known to many in Wayne County through her role at the NC License Plate Agency, while her daughter, who was in middle school at the time, is a high school guidance counselor.
“I just said, ‘I want this and I’m going to pursue this,” she said.
And that’s what it takes to be Habitat homeowner – a drive and a desire to build that better future, because we aren’t giving these homes away.
But this is a partnership and we are so proud of these families and the others before them who have paid off their mortgages. They are what Habitat is all about. And with the community’s support and help – your support and help – we can continue to give homeowners, just like these, this opportunity to pursue their dreams and to build their homes and their lives and their legacies for themselves and their families.
Habitat’s mission to build homes, community and hope. And even though we shredded, not burned, these mortgages last night, Community Outreach Coordinator LaToya Stallings summed it up when she said, “Today we don’t just burn paper; we ignite hope. We celebrate freedom from debt, the strength of partnership, and the enduring impact of a foundation on which people can build their lives.”
This is why we build.
