As a single father to two teenagers, Ricky says his kids are his inspiration. “My son and daughter are my priority,” he says. “I want to leave something behind for them when I am gone, something my parents weren’t able to do.”
Heather and her family moved into a Habitat house in Wake County 16 years ago. Heather was 10 then. Today, Heather serves on staff at Durham Habitat as their volunteer services manager, coordinating the thousands of volunteers for their program.
As part of our Long Acres work in SE Raleigh, the City of Raleigh had acquired a house on Parnell Drive that they planned to demolish in order for Habitat to come in and put a new structure in its’ place. The home definitely needed to be demolished, but it was occupied. As with any federal grant, there were provisions to financially compensate the occupants for relocation.
I just had the distinct privilege of attending the closing for Ricky Mitchell and the house we built together with him in Long Acres in Raleigh. Habitat is a partnership, not a charity give-away. And with Ricky this couldn’t be truer. Ricky himself was actively engaged in all aspects of the construction. Ricky’s brother, a professional roofer, installed the roof shingles. Ricky’s co-worker, a trim carpenter, installed all the interior doors in a matter of hours and then cut the baseboards which Ricky installed.
This past Sunday was our 11th annual Holiday Home Tour fundraiser and the crowd gathered was not only treated to some good food and music, but also to hearing from our current homebuyers in Garner, Michael and Waldrena Robinson and their experience with Habitat Wake. As we approach Thanksgiving, I find myself grateful and blessed to be a part of an organization that can make such a huge difference in people’s lives in such a simple, but profound way.
