A Place to Call Your Own

By: Max Groce

This day started out semi-rough. I had not gotten much sleep the night before then I had to be up at 6 to get ready in time to be at the Habitat-for Humanity build site at 7.  I rise out of my bed like a reanimated body and slowly yet surely get ready and make my way out the door. Eventually, I arrive at the corner of N.Third and Chelsea. I recognize the neighborhood from frequent trips to Tigers game at the Pyramid when it was still open. You can still see little parts of blight, but there are large blocks that have been totally redone and look incredibly good. I park my car in front of an abandoned gas station next to the other cars and make my way out of the car into the cold morning air.

I walk up to the sign in table and meet Mary. She tells me what is going on and some background on the house, which finally starts to compute after I get my first cup of coffee down. Mary explains how Habitat for Humanity isn’t just about building houses it’s about buying as well. The whole point is to allow someone to build and own their home; the logic being that if it’s theirs they will take better care of it and they will have more invested into their neighborhoods then if they were just renting. The program helps them get a loan with a very low down payment and no interest at all, but they do have to qualify, put in certain number of hours for financial literacy, and put in a certain number of houses working on the house.  The house were working on today is a one level handicap accessible three bedroom, and it is for an elderly woman who’s wheelchair bound and her granddaughter, Ms. Jessie and Venita Hill. I meet them and Mary tells me how they have been out here every day the house has been worked on rain or snow.

It’s about 7:30 and the other volunteers start to arrive from The University of Memphis and Lynnwood.  Mr. Jimmie gathers us up and begins his speech. He talks about how this house is built in seven days only because of help from volunteers and how what we’re doing really is not only making a significant difference in someone else’s life but that we are giving and building somebody a home. That’s what really resonated with me through the whole experience that day. I’m building somebody’s home. A house where they’re going to live for shelter from the elements and the world. It’s a strange feeling and thought to have but it did make me happy to have it.

After Jimmie’s speech we broke up into teams and followed the more experienced volunteers who assigned us jobs. Mine was painting all the touchup and trim on the outside of house. I painted literally the whole time I was volunteering all the way around the house. I mean I painted all over that house. It would seem monotonous but honestly they gave such a good speech in the beginning that it didn’t seem that way. You really did feel like you were doing something that made a difference. I finished up the last of the trim work and helped clean up the work site. I made my way over to Mary and Jimmy and thanked them for the opportunity and made my way home.  That trip home made me really reflect on what I truly had. I have a home. It’s not big and it’s not fancy, but it’s everything to me.

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