THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407140168
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK DUROSE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 99 lines
Bayside Baptist Church members broke new ground in more ways than mere shovelfuls of earth over the past three months when they built a two-story house in Norfolk's Park Place neighborhood.
The Virginia Beach congregation's work was part of the regional Habitat for Humanity program, and it marked the first time in the local organization's six-year history that a group from one city had constructed a house in another city.
What's more, the church's membership is predominantly white and Shirley Harper and her two sons, the new owners of the house, are black.
``Bayside Baptist has given `community' an expanded definition,'' proclaimed Sylvia Hallock, executive director of Habitat for Humanity's South Hampton Roads chapter, while dedicating the house last Sunday.
The Harpers' new home on 29th Street marks the 11th to be built in Park Place alone, and by year's end will be among 28 built in South Hampton Roads since the national organization began operating here in 1988.
Representatives of Bayside Baptist and Habitat for Humanity, along with the Harpers and former Norfolk Mayor Mason Andrews, stood on the large, raised porch of the nearly finished, 1,350-square-foot home last Sunday to give thanks and offer prayers.
Andrews called it a ``great example of people helping people to elevate their lives,'' while Clark Olsen, a member of Habitat's board of directors, emphasized how the project represents ``the idea of South Hampton Roads as one community.''
But project director Jimmy Wynne, a deacon at Bayside Baptist, dismissed the barriers of city lines and racial ones.
``There isn't a person alive who doesn't deserve a decent place to live,'' Wynne said. ``And this is definitely a decent place to live, though I might be bragging, 'cause I helped build it.''
Wynne, construction supervisor Bill Bishop and assistant project director Robert Fodrey, all volunteers, were uniform in their praise of the support they received.
Besides the $30,000 raised by Bayside's congregation for materials, and the many hours of labor donated by other church members, help was offered by several crew members of the USS Shenandoah, and the youth fellowship of the First Congregational Church of Fairfield, N.Y. The youths, on an extended good-will field trip, helped hang and sand drywall.
Bishop also acknowledged the unsolicited assistance of several Park Place residents ``who just showed up with hammers and asked, `Can we help?' ''
Shirley Harper expressed her gratitude to all the volunteers.
``I'm overwhelmed,'' she said, standing next to sons Teka, 16, and Jimmott, 11. ``But I just want to thank God and everyone.''
Just before she cut the ceremonial ribbon on the house, more than a dozen members of the Bayside Baptist Men's Choir gathered before the crowd to sing ``Bless This House.''
Harper, who plans to move into the house early next month once the carpet is installed, was first accepted for the program in 1991.
``It was a long wait, but I'm just glad it's finally come to pass,'' she said. To qualify, Harper had to submit a credit report, proof of her employment as a shift supervisor at Hardee's, written commitment to provide ``400 sweat-hours of work on the house,'' three letters of recommendation, and pass an interview by The Family Selection Committee.
Harper, a single mother, has been living in a cramped two-bedroom apartment near Booker T. Washington High School in Norfolk.
During her first year in the new house she will be considered a renter, paying $260 a month to Habitat for Humanity. After that she must provide a $500 down payment and assume ownership of the mortgage, which amounts to $260 a month for 15 years.
``You can't beat that deal,'' says Stuart Cake, another deacon at Bayside Baptist. Cake explained that while Harper will be paying a nominal fee, those proceeds go directly to cover operating expenses for Habitat for Humanity, and not to the church. ``All labor is donated,'' said Cake. ``We don't get a dime for that. But that's certainly not why we did it.''
And the church's commitment won't end once the Harpers move in.
``A committee of church members will help counsel and advise Harper on the budgeting of running a household,'' Cake explained. ``After all, it's her first house.''
The counseling, he said, will continue for a year and is part of the church's agreement with Habitat for Humanity.
As for the Harper family, Jimmott seemed to be the most excited. Jimmott, who has been sharing a room with his older and much larger brother, Teka, said, ``I'm just glad I'll get my own room.''
Teka, a reserved 16-year-old who helped work on the house, offered only that the house was ``all right.''
His mother had a larger, more reverent perspective on the new home. ``Miracles do happen,'' she said. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by MARK DuROSE
The Bayside Baptist Church men's choir sings ``Bless this House'' as
part of the ceremony dedicating the house.
Proud new home owners, Shirley Harper and her sons Jimmott and Teka,
join Jimmy Wynne and Robert Fodrey, right, in prayer during the
ribbon cutting ceremony.
KEYWORDS: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY by CNB