In 1989, my wife Amelia and I were in a difficult situation. We were living in a dilapidated trailer with no A/C or heat and a gaping hole in our living room floor. Our church heard about a cold snap coming and pooled their resources to give us a wood-fire stove. It was just in time. The night the cold came in, I spent all night tending the stove in the room where our three young sons were sleeping, just so they wouldn’t freeze to death. The next morning, I discovered the water in the toilet was frozen solid. If it hadn’t been for the stove, I don’t know what would’ve happened. And the hardest part was that there seemed to be no way out of our housing situation. However, members of our church again came together and urged us to apply to become Habitat homeowners; Jim Davis was one of them. I couldn’t believe that kind of love existed, where people would come together to help us build a home we could actually afford. It seemed too good to be true. But Mr. Davis and the others assured me it does exist, and it’s Habitat for Humanity.

Today, Amelia and I still live in our house we built, bought and paid for. With the distinction of owning the first home B/CS Habitat ever built, I’ve told this story of how God has used Habitat to bless me and my family hundreds of times. Whenever I speak about Habitat’s mission, I want people to understand that Habitat has truly changed our lives for the better and, as of today, Habitat has done this for more than 275 families in our community. I encourage you to get involved in our community and find these families who are in impossible living situations like we were. They often don’t know there’s another way, but you can change that. Thank you!