Every Student Can Make a Difference

Recently the Habitat Cabarrus ReStore had an early morning visit from some bright, young Cannon School students. Eager to make a difference, the students volunteered to help build four 8ft wooden picnic tables to be sold at the ReStore. Under the watchful eyes and direction of ReStore staff members, the students learned how to correctly measure, use tools, and ultimately, create tables that will stand the test of time.

This project was made possible thanks to a grant from Thrivent Financial. Their donation helped with the purchase of the materials needed to put together the sturdy, handmade tables. We are encouraged by the interest the younger generation has taken in Habitat’s mission and look forward to working with more students in the future. 

Know someone who would be interested in volunteering at the Habitat Cabarrus ReStore? Get in touch with us on our website or give us a call at 704-786-4000.

Habitat Welcomes New Board President

Habitat for Humanity of Cabarrus County would like to thank outgoing Board President Pam Cain for all of the service and leadership she has provided our organization during her time as President. She has done a great job with our organization and we admire the dedication she has shown. To say thank you, Executive Director Dave Zablotny (pictured right) presented her with a small token of appreciation.

Taking her place as Board President is Doug Stafford (pictured left). Doug has been a member of our Board for several years and we are very excited for him to begin leading the Habitat Cabarrus Board of Directors.

Along with a new Board President, we also have a few new faces joining our team. We've got four additions to the Board, including Dianne Snyder (pictured left), A.J. Clark (pictured middle), and Betsy Burchfield Handler (pictured right).  Not pictured is Ward Childress.

We're thrilled to have these four represent our organization and join us in making our community a better place. We're looking forward to accomplishing many great things with our new Board members in the future.

While it's always exciting to have new Board members join our organization, it's still tough to see outgoing members leave. Therese Roberts (pictured middle) is one such member, leaving our team once her six-year term on the Board is complete. Therese served two of these years as Board Chair. We greatly appreciate Therese's service and admire the dedication she's shown to our organization.

My Women Build Story

What image comes to mind when I think of empowering myself?  Rosie the Riveter!

Rosie the Riveter is an iconic WWII image used to recruit women into the work force.  Since the end of the war, this image has become a symbol of feminine capability.  Today, this image profoundly resonates within me as a symbol of my capabilities.

When I began building my home, I also began building myself!  With every nail I drove and every wall I raised, I built an inner strength housed within the resilience my experience with Habitat was constructing. When selected to represent the 20^th anniversary Habitat Cabarrus Women Build project, I was flooded with emotion. What an honor I thought to myself, attaching the image of a women’s strength to what I saw as my biggest feat.  Obtaining home-ownership and securing a stable life for myself and family would soon be realized through my concerted efforts and those of women leaders throughout my community.

But my Women Build story didn’t begin with the start of Habitat’s 20^th anniversary women build project and it has yet to come to an end!

In high school, I joined a service club for girls called the Juniorettes. It was through this group that I was first introduced to Habitat for Humanity and the Women Build idea. My Juniorette team volunteered to paint the interior of a home that was a Women Build home.

Working on a build as Volunteer Coordinator
with Development Director Katie Page.

Then fast forward to 2009, I was about to graduate from Wingate University and knew I wanted a career that allowed me to serve others. So the school’s career counselor secured me a one-semester internship with the local Habitat for Humanity affiliate.  During my internship I saw firsthand Habitat’s “a hand up, not a hand out” philosophy.  Although brief, during my time with that affiliate I began to learn how Habitat worked and how they changed lives by building people up!

After graduation, I worked long, unpredictable hours for a very low wage trying tirelessly to simply provide for my young daughter.  Despite my best efforts I couldn’t find another job and continued earning drastically less than my degree deceptively lead me to believe I would earn.  I was living in a place that was not safe but couldn’t afford to live anywhere else.   In 2010, a young man I went to high school with was shot because of a bad drug deal outside my apartment as I was unloading my daughter after a long night at work. The very next day I was reintroduced to Habitat, but this time as an applicant.

Since the completion of my home, my life has continued to intertwine with Habitat and Women Build.  In 2013, I was brought on board to serve as the construction assistant to our famous "Bob the builder." Then in 2014, I was offered a position at the affiliate as the volunteer coordinator. The crazy part here is that my assigned supervisor turned out to be one of those strong women leaders who lent a hand on the building of my Women Build home (I am forever grateful Katie Page!). Once again I was overcome with excitement at the opportunity to build myself with the assistance of the strong women I looked up to and to serve alongside these women who had encouraged me during my partnership with Habitat (Shirley Kennerly this includes you too!).

My Women Build story doesn’t end there though... Just recently, February 1^st of 2016 to be exact, my brother passed away from a heroin overdose. I first learned of his addiction about two years ago, around the time I joined Healthy Cabarrus’s Substance Use Coalition. The coalition’s mission is to mobilize community partners to build a healthier community by reducing substance abuse and its effects, particularly among youth. It was through the efforts of this coalition that I learned about Naloxone and its ability to reverse an opioid-induced overdose. Unfortunately, my brother was alone when he overdosed and wasn’t found until long after he had last used. Despite this fact, the administration of Naloxone is what kept him alive long enough to make it to the hospital and for our family to say goodbye. In honor of my brother, my friends and colleagues at the Cabarrus Health Alliance decided to put together a women build team to support our 2016 campaign. And guess what day they requested to come out and build? My birthday! Truly I believe this is God at work.

Romans 8:28 says “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

At our St. Patrick's Day Party fundraiser with Shirley Kennerly,
Family Services Coordinator.

I believe I have been called to my purpose, to not only serve the Lord but to serve another family. I get to give back the love and support that was so graciously poured upon me. As each Women Build team continues to grow and the funds to support this build continue to come in I am called to give praise; Praise to God for his unwavering love, Habitat Cabarrus for its continued efforts within my life and my community, and to Julie Clinkscale, the beautifully strong grandmother and caregiver of 5 remarkable young ladies who is working diligently to build her home with the title of this year’s Women Build. I am so excited to see this year’s project kick-off.  Who knows…maybe Rosie the Riveter will come out to support us once again! 

Collegiate Challenge - Spring Fever

“It’s spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you’ve got it, you want – oh, you don’t quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!”  ―  Mark Twain

It’s still February but the days are getting longer and the skies already seem bluer.  The groundhog’s shadow notwithstanding, it feels like the transition to the next season is underway.  Spring is a magical time that lifts moods and raises spirits.  My mother rejoices every year when the crocuses bloom because she knows Spring is on its way.

My touchstone is daffodils.  When I start spotting the cheerful yellow blooms that tell me Spring has arrived - my heart nearly sings.   What is the sign of the season that lifts your eyes skyward, makes your heart giddy, and urges your legs to run with the joy and abandon of youth?

Each March a migration of youthful abandon sends students to Florida and other sunny climes for a week of NOT STUDYING called Spring Break.  Many students spend a week enjoying cruises, beach sprees, and ski trips.  They return to school with sunburned noses and fabulous tales of hijinks and romance.   But a beautiful subset of students pursues a different type of Spring Break.

These students will travel from distant points like New Jersey and Illinois to Cabarrus County to spend a week building homes with Habitat for Humanity through a program called Collegiate Challenge.  Why would these students choose to spend their Spring Break this way?  Because…  Well because they are still fresh and new and can still see the promise in the world.  They’ve not become jaded or blasé about their blessings.  They want to give back.  They want to serve.

Last year one of our Collegiate Challenge schools - Illinois Institute of Technology - created a gorgeous banner comprised of handwritten notes that told why they chose to pursue an alternative Spring Break and here’s a sample of what they wrote.

“Helping others gives my life purpose. My life would be incomplete without it.” – Khaleela

“It makes me feel good inside and out.” – Joshua

“Helping others is the highest cause.  We each have an innate moral responsibility to improve the world for the less fortunate.” -  Romir

“It gives me a chance to say Thank You to my community and gain perspective about life.” – Kathryn

"It is so rewarding to help those in need.” – Marissa

“I want to create foundations for brighter tomorrows.” – Jonathan

It’s enough to make your heart ache with the beauty of the sentiments.  And for a moment you remember your younger self and your own idealism.

This year four groups of students will sleep in Concord churches instead of beach hotels.  They will chug water on construction sites rather than pursuing Dionysus’ delights.  These students will return to school (Waynesburg University - PA, Stockton University - NJ, Northwestern University – IL,  and Gates County High School – NC) with blistered hands and light-filled souls from giving their time and talents to help a family get closer to homeownership. 

“Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” ― Franz Kafka

We appreciate these students more than words can say.  The tasks they perform while on Habitat construction sites are vital to building a home.  But the light and joy they bring through simply being themselves adds another essential element that improves the lives all who recognize the beauty inherent in joyful abandon.

If you would like to help with Collegiate Challenge by providing lunch, dinner, snacks or water for the groups please contact Dyana Bostian.