UK employee ‘blessed’ with new home

 

 

By Rochelle Haliburton

The process of getting your first home can be challenging, but for one woman, it was an experience that left her in tears. Joyful tears.

“I cried like a baby when I saw the finished house, and all I could say was ‘Thank God for my new home,’ ” Rita Mays said of her home she received through Habitat for Humanity.

“I could not wait to move in and get relaxed,” she said. “And right now, I don’t like going anywhere because I feel safe; it’s something I can call my own.”

Mays applied for a house through Lexington’s Habitat for Humanity on March 5, 2007 and was accepted on Aug. 29, 2007. She said she had an idea she might be considered for a new home because of the condition of her old house.

Mays’ former house had no insulation and the gas bills were extremely high. Her bathroom was narrow, some of the rooms looked like they had mold growing out of the cracks of the ceiling, the floors were not level and the windows were not secure.

But now, she has a feeling of relief with her new home, which she shares with her daughter and two grandchildren, ages 5 and 14.

“My family is safe and warm, and I don’t have to freeze anymore,” she said.

April Smith, Family Services Director of Lexington Habitat for Humanity, said the application process involves income verification and a credit check, as well as a home visit at the applicant’s current residence to assess need and other factors, such as home maintenance.

After the application process, there is a period of nine months in which the applicant takes classes through Habitat to learn about home ownership, budgeting and finance skills, Smith said. The whole process takes a little more than a year.

Jill Jenkins, Account Clerk for the UK Auxiliary Services, was Mays’ Habitat Nurturer – she helped Mays through it all. Jenkins was assigned to Mays and is chairman of the Nurturer’s Committee for Habitat.

“When Mays was presented with her new home, it was very rewarding for me,” Jenkins said. “I presented her with a Bible during the dedication, and introduced her family to those attending the dedication, and it was then that you could see the emotions build up and let loose because it was at that point that she realized ‘this is my own home.’ ”

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, Christian housing organization that helps in the building affordable housing for people in need. Habitat for Humanity has organizations placed throughout the U.S. and internationally. 

Today, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 300,000 houses, sheltering more than 1.5 million people in communities around the world, according to the organization’s Web site.

Smith said Lexington Habitat for Humanity helps between 15 and 20 families a year, a process in which UK students also play a role.

Rachel Childress, Executive Director of Lexington Habitat for Humanity, says they have a connection with the UK Campus Chapter of Habitat for Humanity that provides volunteers, helps to sponsor houses or to do fundraisers.

“The primary volunteers we get are through the organization,” Childress said. “We have fraternities, sororities, clubs and sports teams who volunteer on a regular basis as well as colleges on campus, such as the engineering college, the agricultural college and the College of Law, who helped in the building of Rita Mays’ home.”

Mays said she feels more relaxed since moving into her new home. There is more peace and quiet in the neighborhood she is now in.

Mays, who works in custodial services at the UK College of Law, said it was a wonderful experience to have faculty and staff with whom she works every day help her build her home.

“It was like a big family reunion with them because I already knew a lot of the people and students,” Mays said. “But I also got to meet new people and build new relationships with some of the volunteers.
“I feel extremely blessed.”