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.

Community Collaboration Keeps Families Safe at Home

There’s a story behind every home and every project that Habitat for Humanity of Cabarrus County undertakes. What starts as a routine initiative for our volunteers and service personnel often turns into a heartwarming feeling of community and comradery.

Christy walked into the Concord Fire Department one morning with one goal in mind: to find a way to make her home safer for her family. Her husband’s struggle with Multiple Sclerosis and her own battle with Epilepsy had already established them as survivors in the face of illness that made life a little more difficult. However, that didn’t inhibit their desire to continue building their family and living their life to its fullest.

Their home, however, was inhibiting their quality of life.

Every day, Christy and her husband lived in fear of what may happen were one of them to fall on the steps outside of their home that were in desperate need of repair. What would seem like a small issue to the average homeowner was presenting a challenge to the couple, and rightly so.

Multiple medical emergencies had been halted or challenging due to EMS personnel being unable or apprehensive in bringing equipment up those stairs. “I knew I needed help,” says Christy, who initially was unsure about asking for assistance. That’s when she reached out to the fire department who directed her to Habitat for Humanity of Cabarrus County.

Resource Development Director Katie Page and Concord Police Chief Ray Allen, both Rotarians in the Concord Rotary Club, took this project to their group and put together a of team of people to help this family. Habitat helped put together the plan and secured materials and Rotarians and the fire department took care of the labor.

“It was an excellent opportunity for Rotarians to fulfill their obligation to give back to the community in a way that makes an immediate impact on someone’s life,” said Rotarian and Concord Police Chief Ray Allen. From the fire department’s perspective, by helping take care of this problem, they may actually be preventing a need for their service in the future and keep homeowners safe.

Not only did Habitat do the requested repairs making sure the steps were secured and safe, but this team of volunteers also built a covering over a portion of an already existing wheelchair ramp for additional safety.

There were many tears of thanks from the family after the project was completed. With a safer walkway for themselves and guests, Christy feels confident in going about her life as fully as possible--and her idea of reaching out for help has changed as well. “It feels good to know that there are people you can turn to in a time of need,” says Christy, adding, “It has made me look at asking for help in a whole new way.”

In 2015, Habitat Cabarrus helped 35 families with repair projects. If you or someone you know is in need of critical home repairs , visit our website to learn more about how to apply for services at www.habitatcabarrus.org under What We Build/Home Repairs.

Tables for Homes

Family dinner table built by Earnest Bostick

A special family has created a unique partnership with Habitat Cabarrus as a way to give a house warming gift to our new homeowners.  Earnest and Angie Bostick have committed to create a farm table for every new Habitat Cabarrus homeowner and their first gift was to the Hernandez family, whose home dedication was last week.

“We hope they enjoy the function of [the table], but most importantly the symbol of togetherness it can bring to their home,” says Angie.  “Their table is built with love and a wish for true happiness.”

Following in His Dad’s Footsteps

Earnest & Angie Bostick

Earnest and his family had just spent Christmas Eve at his grandmother’s house and were making their way back home.  Earnest was only 6 or 7 years old at the time, but he vividly remembers the cold night as he rode home with his dad, mom, brother and sister.  As they got closer to home, they saw a man that appeared to be passed out on the ground underneath a nearby tree.  Rather than drive by him, they stopped the car.  Earnest’s dad then exited the car and realized that the man was passed out drunk.  So he picked the man up, put him in the car, and took him home.  This was one of the many times that Earnest witnessed his dad’s acts of kindness.

"A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees." -Amelia Earhart

As an adult, Earnest strives to be more like his dad.  His love for wood working and desire to give back to the community helped him and his wife Angie come up with the idea of making tables for their community.

“A family dinner table is a great gathering place for eating, talking, homework and making it feel like a home,” says Angie.  They have also built many tables for their family, friends, neighbors and other charitable organizations.

A new table was recently donated to the Hernandez family

Earnest has many dimensions of different styles of tables so he starts with his cut list. After buying the materials, he measures out, cuts and labels each piece so they are ready to assemble. From start to finish including stain and/or paint, it takes about a full day (8-10) hours.  He's a true perfectionist in his work and really tries to bring great quality to each piece.

Our partner families work so hard to put in sweat equity hours alongside community volunteers to make their dream of purchasing and owning a home a reality. As they assume their 0% mortgage after their home dedication, it is so nice to know that members of the community care enough to give them such a special gift.

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! 

Waynesburg University's Mission

Waynesburg University’s mission is to educate students to “make connections between faith, learning and serving so they might faithfully transform their communities and the world.” In only one week, a group of Waynesburg University students from Waynesburg, Pennsylvania were able to take a foundation of a home and put together its outer layers. They could have been enjoying spring break at the beach, but they preferred giving back to someone they don’t even know, Ms. Candis Grier. We are so grateful for their week of extraordinary service in our community.

Dave Zablotny, Executive Director of Habitat Cabarrus, reflected on Waynesburg University’s week of building by saying, “Collegiate Challenge is such an important program for Habitat Cabarrus. The young people who travel long distances on their spring break to support our affiliate and a family they have never met, mean so much to us. Waynesburg University has now sent a team to build with us for six consecutive years and they have become our Collegiate Challenge “poster children”. This year’s team has been incredible and they have certainly lived up to the standard set by their predecessors. What a great message of hope they bring for the future!”

We would also like to give a special thank you to the Cabarrus County community for being such wonderful hosts for our visitors from afar. St. James Lutheran Church hosted our Waynesburg University volunteers this week while the Cannon Memorial YMCA let them use their showers every night. Lunch was provided by Target, Chick-fil-A Concord Parkway, Burger King, Domino’s Pizza, and Wendy’s. McGill Baptist Church and First Presbyterian Church provided dinner. We cannot thank our community partners enough for helping us take care of our guests this week and to those who will be hosting and feeding our next three Collegiate Challenge groups. 

If you are interested in providing meals or snacks to our Collegiate Challenge teams, please contact Dyana Bostian. Be sure to check back each week to see students from Stockton University, Northwestern University, and Gates County High School continue the 2016 Collegiate Challenge build!