For Want of a Nail

My Dad says it’s lawn season now that Autumn is knocking at the door…  Last month he aerated, reseeded, and put down wheat straw so that his yard will be green and gorgeous in the Spring. Once he completes the yard work Dad tackles repairs.  Sometimes the porches need work – railings may need replacement or paint touch-ups to prevent wood rot.  Other times the roof needs a few shingles, or windows must be replaced, or walls painted, or… The list goes on.  Twice a year – Spring and Fall – Dad looks over the house making sure that small problems are found and repaired.    Otherwise small problems become big problems.

An old proverb says: For want of a nail the shoe was lost.  The proverb lists the cascade effect of the missing nail.  No nail for the horseshoe eventually leads to a battle and kingdom being lost…  all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

Jeweldine and David met like many do – at work.  Jeweldine worked at a local mill and David had a seasonal position during summer break from college.  It was love at first sight.  Jeweldine knew immediately, “He’s the one for me.”  Over time David and Jeweldine married, raised a child, and later raised two grandchildren.  They reared other children through the years because the Steele’s are givers and doers.  Until David got sick.  Until they couldn’t do everything any more.

As the son of a former Concord police sergeant, David Steele is the type of man who knows the importance of the horseshoe nail.  David prefers to stay on top of problems too.  When he worked at Cannon Mills, followed by the hospital in Concord, and finally Barber Scotia College he was the guy who made sure the i’s were dotted and the t’s crossed so issues stayed small.  Then his first heart attack in 2003 changed things.

David had another heart attack a few years later, followed by multiple strokes.  He battled cancer and still contends daily with congestive heart failure.  David relies on two machines to circulate his blood and can barely walk.  His wife of 32 years – Jeweldine – left her work as a hairdresser to look after David.  She says with a smile in her voice, that looking after him is a full-time job.

Without regular home maintenance small problems become big problems.

Twelve years of increased neglect due to David’s health issues led to an unknown big problem.  In 2015 Jeweldine realized they needed help and reached out to Cabarrus County for assistance winterizing their home.  Workers discovered a badly-leaking roof.  The winterizing crew asked Habitat Cabarrus if they could help the Steele family fix the leak.

Habitat Cabarrus went to the Steele’s home and assessed the roof.  Simply fixing the leak was not going to help the problem.  The problem had gotten too big.  The horseshoe nail stage had passed.  The Steele home needed an entire new roof - and roof replacement is neither quick nor inexpensive.  For want of a nail the battle for the roof was nearly lost.

And losing this battle would have far-reaching repercussions for the Steele’s.  If the roof wasn’t repaired, the city could condemn the home.  If their home was condemned, where would the Steele’s live?  They owned their home but were not wealthy, else the roof would have already been taken care of.  Public housing was the likely destination.  Yet how would David and his illnesses and ailments handle the shift?  And frankly, who would physically move the Steele’s from their home of 30 years to a subsidized apartment?  If there was any possible way, the Steele’s needed to stay in their home.

Habitat Cabarrus puts faith into action by helping to build, renovate or preserve homes because affordable housing is a foundation for breaking the cycle of poverty.  As the hymn and lyrics by William Cowper say, “God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.”  Fortunately, (or mysteriously) Habitat Cabarrus had received a special grant earmarked for critical repairs and the Steele’s roof met the criteria.

It took weeks for the roof replacement work to be completed.  Roof replacement required professional roofers.  Randy Goodnight with Goodnight Construction generously agreed to help.  They had other work commitments they needed to meet before they could help Habitat Cabarrus and the Steele family.  In the interim, the ceiling in the main living room sprang a leak so large that the Steele’s had to place a bucket under the leak to catch the water.

Once Goodnight Construction had an opening in their schedule, work began on the Steele’s home.  Jeweldine said the improvement was immediate and quite noticeable upon completion of the roof replacement.  The heat and cool air that had escaped the old roof for years now stayed inside.  Jeweldine gushed, “The house feels wonderful now! The roofers were so nice.  I thank God for them and Habitat Cabarrus every day of my life.”

Romans 8:28 is a good reminder that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to His purpose.  Habitat Cabarrus is honored to serve His purpose and our community through our critical repairs program.

If you would like to learn more about our home repair program please click here or download the Home Repair Application for Assistance and bring it into our offices.

Action Figure

My brother used to have a G.I. Joe as a kid. I had a Barbie. She changed clothes a whole lot but I’m not sure what Barbie DID. Joe, on the other hand, was a man of action. TV commercials about Joe always showed him pursuing really exciting activities like driving the jeep over rocks or parachuting in to save the day. You just knew Joe was rough and tumble and wouldn’t hesitate to jump in to help the other toys.

Dene Dawson reminds me of G.I Joe (and not just because he favors khaki and cargo pants). Dene enters the room like a whirlwind - usually doing three things at once. He juggles the tasks and commitments of his life with the dexterity of a circus performer and keeps a positive attitude throughout. Dene is a man of action, and like Joe, won’t hesitate to jump in and help.

A few years ago while visiting Sweden we experienced multiple food servers who seemed angry to be in a position of service. This contrasted greatly with our time in Japan where service is truly an art. Perhaps the two cultures have very different ideas of what service is... It appears that in Sweden service has an underlying concept of one person having lower status than the other - so service provides an outward and visible sign of inequality. Since Sweden is VERY concerned with fairness this perceived inequality might cause emotional dissonance within the server.

In Japan the concept of service is more akin to “help”. A diner in Mos Burger will receive the same attentive care from staff as a diner in a Michelin-starred establishment. In Japan, the individual builds an underlying sense of accomplishment with each instance of helping another person. So Japanese take pride in serving to their utmost ability.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

– James 1:22

When Dene joined Habitat Cabarrus in 2010 his title was Program Manager. The role encompassed volunteer and family services, land development, and oversight of the construction operations. Habitat Cabarrus was in a state of flux and Dene took on whatever additional responsibilities were needed. (Dene wore MANY – figurative - hats those first few years.)

Over time Habitat Cabarrus grew in size and scope and Dene’s responsibilities morphed as well. Six years later, Dene is the Program Manager, which places him in charge of construction management, land development, urgent repairs, and maintaining Habitat’s transitional housing facility. In addition, Dene builds relationships - relationships in the municipalities Habitat works within, relationships with the subcontractors and vendors who perform work for Habitat Cabarrus, and relationships with the families served.

When asked what he likes about working for Habitat Cabarrus Dene said he never expected it to be so creative. “How we serve families, how we evaluate and take opportunities that come our way has allowed us to take unusual donations of land or buildings and to be creative with them. I’m proud of our transitional housing program and our Tiny House in particular. These programs have allowed us to broaden the way we serve our community.”

“He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.”

- Psalm 104:19

Habitat Cabarrus Executive Director Dave Zablotny stated, “Habitat Cabarrus has been truly blessed to have Dene’s expertise - so it is with both joy and sadness that we congratulate him on his new career move. Dene’s creativity, energy, and experience will be solid assets to his new organization. We will miss Dene as a colleague and as a friend. He will always be part of our Habitat Cabarrus family. We wish him great success in his new role.”

Dene has accepted a position with a national builder that provides him with new professional challenges and will join their organization in September 2016.

Dene shared, “God led me to Habitat for Humanity. I’ve been honored to help achieve affordable housing solutions in Cabarrus County. I am thankful for all Habitat has done for me and now it is time for the next chapter.”

We will miss you Dene. Drive your SUV over new rocks and help build something strong.

Love,

Your Habitat Cabarrus Family.

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.

Pathways to Change

When I was a kid we had a dog who figured out that if we were not around to let him in for the night our neighbor would if he scratched on her door. I really loved this neighbor and spent a lot of time hanging out with her after school.  Between the dog and I there was an obvious path worn in the grass between our house and the neighbor’s. That’s what we do to our brains - we wear down pathways from our repeated behaviors either positive or negative.

I love sugar.  (Oh how I love sugar.)  Sadly, sugar is not very good for me or you.  It rots our teeth, suppresses our immune systems, and leads us down the path to diabetes and weight gain.  But sugar tastes and feels so good.  In fact, sugar lights up the pleasure receptors in our brains almost like illicit drugs.  So last year when I quit putting sugar in my coffee (in an attempt to improve my health) it was quite a difficult behavior to change.  

Change is rarely easy, especially the older we become.  And those little behavior pathways may feel more like the Grand Canyon when we try to escape them.  Support helps.  That’s why organizations like AA and Weight Watchers have meetings - to provide support for positive behavior change from professionals and peers.  

When a family enters the Habitat Cabarrus program they go through a three-stage process: Application, Selection, Partnership.  The partnership stage takes the most time - from 12 to 24 months.   The partnership stage provides the future homeowner education and support to change mental pathways and behavior from renter to owner.  The future homeowner also puts in 250 hours of sweat equity on other Habitat houses before construction begins on her own home.       

Why so much time? Let me explain.

Most of our families are long-term renters and generations of renters are not unusual.  

When you rent your dwelling it’s like working for a big company.  When the copier breaks - you tell someone and they call the copier repair people.  The repair person comes out and fixes the copier. You are inconvenienced while the copier is not working but that’s about the extent of your emotional or financial involvement to the equipment.   

As a homeowner YOU bear responsibility for maintaining the equipment.  YOU are the one who grabs the plunger to unclog the toilet when the toddler tries to flush socks.  YOU call the plumber when the plunger can’t shift the tube socks blocking your pipes better than an NFL linebacker holding the line on 4th down. And YOU pay the plumber when they come do their magic.  That’s just the toilet.  What about the gutters, the HVAC, pest control, and routine maintenance items?

  

As a former renter you have no experience in these areas.  None.  If you are the child of renters you’ve never watched your dad put WD40 on the hinges of the front door to stop the squeaking. You’ve never seen your mom clean out your sister’s hair from the bathroom sink.  You’ve never painted your bedroom walls, never changed out a light fixture, never caulked the shower.  You’ve never replaced shingles after a big thunderstorm and never paid a roofer to fix a leak.

In addition to learning basic home maintenance and repairs our Partner Families also gain essential financial skills like budgeting, and cash flow planning through Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.  Partner Families learn about insurance, retirement planning, and how to decrease debt.  These financial lessons are just as vital to their long-term success as the sweat equity hours spent on the work site installing siding, laying floors, and painting walls.

  

Home ownership is one of the first rungs on the ladder of financial security -but it is only one.  Habitat Cabarrus works with our partner families to teach skills and behaviors that help build secure futures. Step by step we create the mental pathway together.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  

Full Circle

The other day my husband and I watched a beautiful scene unfold.  A boy about eight helped his two-year-old sister play on her scooter.  She was determined to ride it no matter what.  He was incredibly kind and patient with her.  Despite the crying and tantrums from her repeated unsuccessful attempts - he remained calm and loving.  As we viewed the interaction we knew that he was modeling the behavior he’d received from their parents.  We also knew that the sister would be just as patient, kind, and loving with her own children one day in the future.

We mimic the behavior we’ve seen and perpetuate the behavior we’ve experienced.

Members of Swayze's Sweethearts:
Ronnye Boone, Deborah Carter,
and Megan Whitlow

I once heard a story about cooking that bolsters the point.  A mother demonstrated how to cook a roast to her daughter.  When she cut a third of the roast off and turned it sideways in the pan before placing it in the oven the daughter asked her why she cut it.  The mother paused for a moment and then picked up the phone. The mom called HER mother and explained the situation.  The grandmother laughed so loudly the granddaughter could hear.  It seems the grandmother’s roasting pan was too small to hold the roast in one piece but it would fit if a section was turned sideways.  The mother had been cooking her roast the same way - even though she had a larger pan.

How many times a day do you take unconscious action based on how your parents, “Cut the roast”?  Do you drive American or foreign?  Do you attend church?  Volunteer?  Yell or sulk when angry?  Do you wear seat belts? Jewelry?  Plaid?  We spend a great deal of our lives, “Cutting the roast”.

When I wash dishes I utilize an order to the process.  First washed are glasses, then silverware, then plates, and finally pots and pans.  There’s a logic to the system - the water is cleanest at the beginning so you wash items from least dirty to dirtiest.  It’s so ingrained I don’t even think about the process until I watch my husband wash dishes in his own way.  Then… I have to consciously remind myself that the outcome is the important thing.

Swayze's Sweethearts Women Build Team on Build Day

Megan is a member of the Swayze’s Sweethearts Women Build Team.  The Sweethearts helped to raise the first wall in Julie Clinkscale’s home in April.  That event was a Roast Cutting moment for Megan because Megan grew up in a Habitat for Humanity home.

Megan’s parents married young and their three children came along shortly.  Megan’s family lived in an older home in Monroe, NC and only one of the rooms had insulation.  During the heat of the North Carolina summer and cold of winter all five family members lived in that one room.  Because the home was so old it exacerbated Megan’s sister’s asthma so she experienced a lot of breathing issues and all three children were often sick during the cold months.

Megan was seven when her family moved into their new Habitat home. She remembers hammering a few nails into the wall during construction. Megan recalls her excitement to have her own bedroom.  Megan remembers the new, clean, smell and how she and her siblings were fascinated by the furnace closet.  She recalls feeling the warmth and love from strangers who simply wanted to help.

Team Leader Kristel Swayze and Megan

As an adult Megan understands that Habitat offers families the opportunity to change their lives.  She appreciates knowing that there are good people in the community who care and who will rally around strangers to help them become homeowners.  Today Megan knows the importance of giving back and is happy to be in a position to do some giving.

One April evening as Megan helped teams of women work as one to raise Julie Clinkscale’s wall she looked over and saw five sets of children’s eyes watching.  Five sets of eyes observed unknown adults setting foundations for their futures, constructing stability, creating possibilities.  Megan’s eyes filled with joy and love because she KNEW what those little girls felt in that moment.   Megan knows first hand what their new home will mean.  And she felt overjoyed to play a role in their future success.

Megan has come full circle.  Today she is a dedicated wife and a mother who has worked in the medical field.  Stability is very important to Megan and she’s willing to sacrifice to provide it to her children.  She’s also willing to work for Julie Clinkscale and her grandchildren.  Megan once stood on a Habitat worksite and watched unknown helpers hammer and sweat.  Now Megan feels blessed to help provide the hand up she is so grateful to have received so many years ago.

We mimic the behavior we’ve seen and perpetuate the behavior we’ve experienced.  Each Habitat workday creates more than a floor or a roof.  It builds love and constructs community that continues and increases with each repetition.  One day those five little girls may continue the legacy and help another family get one day closer to home ownership.

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.

Weekday Warriors

My uncle was a graphic artist back in the day. He drew logos that graced local businesses’ doorways, signs, business cards, and letterhead. He was quite talented and so it was a bit of a surprise when he told his daughter, a talented musician, to really think about pursuing a career in music. He cautioned her that allowing your creative outlet to provide your bread and butter could seriously lessen her enjoyment of her music. She pursued a career in social work and still enjoys her music as a personal pastime.

There’s a line in the Lord’s Prayer that says, “Give us this day our daily bread…” We have to feed our bodies to maintain life. Food for the body is as necessary as air to breathe. Yet as humans we also have other needs. They may not be as immediate a need as feeding the body but we must all feed our souls to feel complete.

One of my neighbors has a beautiful lawn. He waters, fertilizes, rakes, mulches, feeds, seeds, edges and undertakes other actions that make his lawn a beautiful, lush, and green expanse. I’m pretty sure his yard is his creative endeavor. Another neighbor has the most gorgeous flowers. You know it’s Spring when she starts planting. My father loves his vegetable garden. Another neighbor loves riding his motorcycle. My mom sings when she’s happy.

We all have a need to reach outside ourselves. To create, to experience, to live. 

If you ask most people what Habitat for Humanity does, the answer is build homes. And we do. And we don’t.

Volunteers perform lots of construction labor (usually on Saturday work days) for Habitat Cabarrus. And they do a GREAT job! But what happens if they can’t complete the task in one day? Sometimes the task can wait until the next Saturday when the next group of volunteers comes out. Often times it can’t. That’s when our Weekday Warriors work their magic.

Weekday Warriors are a very dedicated group of volunteers who come out week after week, rain and shine, heat and cold, to get the construction tasks ready for the next round of Saturday volunteers. The Warriors started out being called the Wednesday Warriors but when tasks regularly became available on other days the name changed.

If you ask the Weekday Warriors why they volunteer, why Habitat, or why they keep coming back you hear some interesting responses.

Brad Fisher has been a Warrior for 12 years and he loves being up high on the roofs. He used to be a lab director and enjoyed it. But he really appreciates construction’s shorter projects because he gets to see what was accomplished in a day. He thinks Habitat provides a real way to directly help people – by giving them the opportunity to help themselves.




John Cline has been a Warrior for over eight years. He started out as a Saturday volunteer and asked what else he could do. He really likes framing. Because he spent so much of his career in an office setting, he loves to do something physical. John enjoys the fellowship with the Warriors and he likes being part of a hand UP because he believes the home owners appreciate it more.

David Flowers has been a Warrior for seven years. He spent his career in mechanical engineering and he’s always been interested in how things worked. He really wanted to know how homes were built. David likes framing because you can see real progress in one day. He also likes working on the triangular metal works just below the roof. The sheet metal bird box is different for each home and David likes seeing form and function come together. David thinks the Habitat program is admirable and this provides him a route to give back. 

Daniel Stafford, aka the New Kid, joined the Warrior ranks in 2015. He came out to a work day with his church and liked the experience so much he asked what else he could do. He is new to the area so he appreciates the comradery with the other Warriors and he enjoys building things. Daniel really relishes the opportunity to meet the future homeowners and to hear from them how the Habitat program will change their lives. Daniel’s favorite task is framing because its satisfying to see how much can be accomplished each day.


Our Weekday Warriors are a bit like Nessie the Lock Ness Monster – they are shy creatures who eschew the spotlight and the camera. Brad, John, David, and Daniel are only a few of the very dedicated Warriors who provide so much time, labor and love to Habitat Cabarrus.

Matthew 19:26 – Jesus looked at them and said, “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

I’m pretty sure God brought our Weekday Warriors. They worked elsewhere for their daily bread but now they have the time and the desire to feed their souls. We are so grateful that they chose us as the source of their Soul Food.

If you’re interested in volunteering or becoming a Weekday Warrior please contact us at 704-786-4001.