The Family

Our reunion is tomorrow. Already.  Wow.  We are going to get to see some old friends.  But tomorrow we are also going to make some new ones.  Because tomorrow we are going to meet the family who will be living in the house the Cobblers will build. For those of you who can't be here, I'd like to tell you her story. She gave me permission to share online, but I will not use her name.  This is the internet, after all. 

Our recipient is a single mom with 5 children. The oldest is a nine year old boy.  The youngest is a little eight month old girl. There are three more girls in between, ages 3, 5, and 8.  

She grew up in another part of South Dakota in a 1.5 bedroom home with no running water or electricity and walked to an outhouse that was a quarter mile away from her house. She has lived in South Dakota, Nebraska, and Hawaii before settling here in Rapid City.  She has known about Habitat since she was a little girl, and she has volunteered for Habitat in the past.

She graduated from high school in 2000 and then spent the next nine years trying to get through college. During her college years she worked full time and was a single mother. She is currently divorced, but during her marriage she was the primary supporter of her family.  She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work in 2009. 

Now, she works for Rural American Initiatives Early Head Start.  Her primary title is "Health Advocate", but she plays many roles.  Her responsibilities include prenatal services, administrative assistant, and safety director. She really is the "face" of the program. 

On June 27, 2011 she and her five children became homeless.  One year later, on June 27, 2012 she received a call from Habitat saying that she would be the Project 77 Blitz Build homeowner! That same day she took all of her kids to Menards to pick out paint for their bedrooms.  Each one picked out FOUR colors.  This will be their first room without white walls. While the kids are excited about being able to paint their rooms, she is anxious to be able to decorate her home with family quilts, pictures, and drawings that her children have made.

This hard working woman will be joining us for dinner on Friday, and will spend a couple of days helping us build her house next week.  I hope the house we build will serve her well.  She is raising 5 future Cobblers!