Our Homeowners

Celebrating Community and Partnership: Home Sponsor First Baptist Church and Habitat Catawba Valley Dedicate a New Home

Celebrating Community and Partnership: First Baptist Church and Habitat Catawba Valley Dedicate a New Home

 

Hickory, NC (June 15, 2024)-

At Habitat Catawba Valley, we are driven by our mission to put God’s love into action and bring people together to build homes, communities, and hope. Recently, this mission was realized and celebrated through our partnership with First Baptist Church of Hickory, home sponsor of the “Frances Hilton Home”. We held a dedication at the newly finished home for two deserving soon to be homeowners—Edgar and John. This event underscored the power of community partnership and collective effort, as well as honored the long-standing support of Frances Hilton.

The partnership between First Baptist Church, Hickory, and Habitat Catawba Valley is founded on shared values of service, compassion, community building, and the love of Jesus Christ. First Baptist Church has consistently demonstrated its dedication to uplifting those in need, making this collaboration a natural extension of their ongoing commitment to the community. Pastors Joshua Barrett and Larry Phillips played a significant role in the dedication ceremony, exemplifying the church’s spirit of unity and purpose. 

The home build was sponsored by First Baptist Church in honor of Frances Hilton, a longtime supporter of Habitat Catawba Valley. Frances Hilton’s dedication to our cause has been unwavering, and her presence at the dedication ceremony added a special significance to the event. Her legacy of support continues to inspire our community and drives our mission forward.

 

“We look forward to moving into this house to have the room for my girls to grow. They’re getting older and that’s going to be huge – somewhere we can call home ”

Edgar, the soon-to-be homeowner of the First Baptist Church Sponsor Build, embodies the values of hard work and family dedication. Working 40-45 hours a week at for a local fire safety company, Edgar is a devoted father to three daughters, ages 8, 7, and 5. Despite the challenges of balancing work and family life, Edgar has always ensured his daughters have the most fulfilling and loving life possible. Due to financial constraints, Edgar has lived with his mother for the past couple of years to afford rent while receiving help with his girls. His new home represents a significant step towards independence and stability for his family.

John, a retired former diesel mechanic who is now disabled, has been in the Habitat homeownership program since 2022. His journey in the program has been one of selfless devotion to help those around him, all while embodying a spirit of hard work and devotion. John has two sons, one of which lives in Conover, and the other in Salt Lake City, Utah. John has four sisters, one who is since deceased. John was originally scheduled to move into the Frances Hilton – First Baptist Church home, however, an opportunity to relocate closer to his sister came like a sign from God. John is now scheduled to close on his forever home in the July of 2024. His home, which was an early 2000’s Habitat build and was offered for sale by the owner, was acquired by us and will be renovated and refreshed for his needs. 

 

The home dedication ceremony was a beautiful testament to what can be achieved when a community comes together with a common purpose. Members of First Baptist Church, Habitat Catawba Valley volunteers, and supporters gathered to celebrate this milestone. The atmosphere was filled with warmth, camaraderie, and a shared sense of accomplishment. At the ceremony, John and Edgar were presented with gifts of a hammer and a Bible. The hammer is a symbol of the hard work our homebuyers have put in, and all the hands and hearts the have joined along way. The gift of a Bible is a symbol of the love that joins us, the grace that carries us, and the room that is prepared for us, so that God may bless and keep our new homeowners for all of their days.   

Watch The Full Dedication Video Here

We at Habitat Catawba Valley would like to thank First Baptist Church of Hickory for their partnership, all of their members who attended and assisted in this amazing event, and Frances Hilton for her ongoing support of Habitat. 

If you or your organization would like to support our mission to provide hardworking individuals homeownership opportunities, please contact Walter Cantwell at  828-328-4663 ext 108 or [email protected].

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Latoya Ramseur Family

Latyoya is amazed that she will be able to have a home of her own, and won’t have to worry about moving here and there. It will be a stable, life changing experience. She will get to create a great environment and positive atmosphere for her son. She wants nothing more than to set a good example for him and wants to be a strong role model motivating him in a positive direction every day! Latoya believes having a stable and secure home life will lead to a better future for them both. She is determined to do all she can to make Ny’Meir’s dream of college and an awesome future come true.

The Apostle Build is a collaboration of local churches who come together in service, prayer, and fellowship to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through shelter. We know that strong and stable homes build strong and stable communities. We are called to love our neighbors as ourselves. And we believe that with a little help, everyone has the potential to stand on their own. Therefore, each Apostle Build cycle, members of the faith community join together with Habitat to put their faith into action by co-sponsoring and co-building a house in partnership with a neighbor in need. Together, they create a foundation upon which a family can build their future.

If you would like more information on how your church can become an Apostle Builder, contact Jenna Ross at 828-328-4663×315 or [email protected].

Ie & Jeramie

The couple is confident that becoming homeowners will change their lives and their daugh-ter’s future. Ie says, “We are blessed to have this opportunity to become future homeowners. We’ve always wanted to celebrate holidays and have family get-togethers at our own place!” They admit to being a little nervous, but are happy that they will be able to have their own home.

Billy & Tasha

The family lives in a 2-bedroom trailer that is poorly insulated with a furnace that can’t keep up with the demand for heat or air, which leaves them with extremely high power bills. Tasha got the phone call that they were accepted into Habitat’s homeownership program. She was bursting with excitement and ran to tell Billy, who had just finished his night shift at work, taken his daughter to school, and was headed for bed! He wondered what all the commotion was about. While Tasha was still sharing the good news Billy was already planning how they could get started on those 500 sweat equity hours. He said he didn’t mind working hard on someone else’s house because he knew his family would eventually be able to have a home of their own. He has always wanted his children to have a better life than he did growing up.

Billy said, “Our lives will be changed because I don’t ever want to make my children move, or have to change schools every year so we can find a better place to live. They’ll be able to keep their friends and never need to share a bedroom. I look at my daughter and my son and see a very bright future for them in our fun and loving home. We could actually invite family and friends over without feeling ashamed about where we live.”

His first question after hearing this fantastic news was whether there was any sweat equity work hours he could work that day before he goes home to get some sleep.

With support from people like you, we are building something better for Billy and his family.

Special thanks to Frye Regional Medical Center for sponsoring Billy and Tasha’s Habitat house.


Kellie Houston

Support This Build

I am living in Conover in a 3-bedroom trailer that is in terrible shape. The power bills are $350-$450 in thehottest and coldest weather and I am challenged to catch up on the payments in the few months in between.

Being accepted into the Habitat homeownership program is a dream come true for myself. When you are single it’s hard to get ahead and being a homeowner will change my life completely. It will give me a sense of well-being. I won’t have to worry any more about the extremely high utility bills or being cold in the winter. I can actually enjoy the snow! I am extremely lucky to have this opportunity.

*Please include “Apostle Build” in the donation form’s Additional Comments section.

Yesica Xiong Family

 This family stays busy. Aedrey loves music and plays the piano. She also enjoys church, playing soccer and her favorite subject is science. Yestin likes soccer, church and loves to read a lot of books. Mom enjoys working out and staying fit.

Yesica says that they were very happy and thankful that their family was accepted for the homeownership program. She couldn’t wait to tell her family the good news. She is convinced that the only way to improve their lives is to force themselves to undergo difficult changes, but Habitat has given them the opportunity to feel comfortable and stable in accomplishing one of her dreams — to have a place to call HOME!

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Mahongany

When asked how she felt and what she did when she found out she was accepted into Habitat’s program Mahongany said, “I was very excited because this is my third time trying to get into the program. I’m ready to become a homeowner and to be able to call this home mine!”

The family believes becoming homeowners will change their lives for the better. Having a yard for the girls to play in means a lot to them. It’s right up there with not having to share a small bedroom, and not having another tenant living above them!