Unsung Heroes

Unsung Heroes     May/12                                                                                   R R Clark           

            I visited the office to prepare a press release for the ‘wall raising’ of our 35^th Habitat For Humanity home.  Executive Assistant Cheryl was hard at work.  She is always gracious about letting me intrude, and helping with information.  Cheryl goes above and beyond to assist home owners, record mortgage payments, and be the nerve center for our operation.  On her day off, she’ll be at the wall raising too.  She helps with the volunteer sign up sheets and refreshments.  She is a beacon of helpfulness.

            Friend Larry has been on the job for weeks.  He has been excavating, setting foundation blocks, pouring cement, coordinating volunteers and contractors, marking layouts, and preparing for the wall raising, just as he has on most of the Habitat homes we’ve built.  He would disagree, but he is one of the heroes in this town.  He has the uncommon ability to grasp the big picture while attending to the details of getting a house from ‘empty lot’ to ‘home’.  He is a truly remarkable volunteer.

            Habitat Partner Families may be the forgotten volunteers. They live in the finished homes and make payments like everyone else.  But they are also volunteers.  They spend hundreds of hours helping build Habitat homes.  Regular volunteers too, like Chucky, Rich, Roger, Russ, Stan and others quietly, and with good humor, make Habitat houses happen.  Unsung heroes abound.  That’s the way it is around here.