THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 24, 1994 TAG: 9410240045
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: By PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 120 lines
The sleepy quiet of a clear weekend morning is broken by the sounds of work. Hammers pound nails. Saws slice lumber. And more than one Saturday sleepyhead must wonder what all the racket is about.
But one man's noise is for Rosa Carver a music as sweet as a Mozart concerto. With each driven nail, the 33-year-old single mom is a moment closer to her dream.
"It's not racket to me," Carver said. "It's the sweet sounds of joy to me. I've been waiting for this for a long time."
Rosa Carver's long-awaited hope is a place to call her own, a place to call home for her and her three children. She will be the first owner of a home built by the Dare County chapter of Habitat for Humanity, a nondenominational ministry that helps working people who fall through the financial cracks realize home ownership. For Carver, a teacher's assistant at First Flight Elementary School, this has what she has always wanted.
``You know how some people dream about new cars?'' she asks. ``I've always dreamed about a house. And now, this is really happening.''
On this morning, some 30 workers - men and women, young and old, black and white, rich and poor - are working to build Carver's new home.
Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1976 by Linda and Millard Fuller as an ecumenical Christian ministry that hopes to eliminate substandard housing and to provides a means of home ownership for the working poor. Habitat builds and rehabilitates homes with the help of the homeowners, who are able to buy the houses at cost through no-interest mortgages. The future homeowners, like Carver, must also invest what Habitat calls, ``sweat equity.'' She must join volunteers in building her new home.
``A lot of people have the misconception that this is a giveaway program,'' said Skip Saunders, president of the local chapter. ``It's not. These are working people. I'm a general contractor, and some of my peers feel threatened by this. But the people we're working with are good, hard-working, honest folks who can't qualify under any program - be it government or private sector. All those people need is a hand up. Once they get there, they have to pay off their mortgage like everyone else, and in turn, they have to help others.''
Saunders said the program is also a financial benefit to Dare County because it returns abandoned properties to the tax rolls.
But this story is about more than mortgage finance. It is about an investment in building human dignity and a closer-knit community.
One of the volunteers, Mitchell Lively, put it simply.
``A lot of us go to church and say a lot of nice words,'' Lively said. ``But we don't have much of a chance to put those words into action.''
For Luke Lucas of Kitty Hawk, every piece of this building is evidence of faith.
``This is what Christ called us to do,'' Lucas, a Kitty Hawk contractor said. ``Christians get a lot of negative press. But I think Christ set the example that actions do speak louder than words. We're all given gifts in this life, and we're called to share those gifts.''
Eleven-year-old Arcenio Nunez is busy sharing his gifts on this day, driving nails, doing whatever his hands will allow.
``I just wanted to help them build the house,'' he said with big eyes opened wide underneath a red baseball cap. ``It feels really good.''
Lucas, who will soon visit Jerusalem for the second time, compared the scene on the lot off George Daniels Road in Manteo to what he saw in Christianity's holiest city.
``In Jerusalem, you see blacks, whites, Arabs, Asians, people from every ethnic and economic background, all there to praise God. That's what you see here. True Christianity tears down the walls that divide us,'' he said.
Saunders added, ``Habitat gets people together who ordinarily would never work together on any project. You see, real estate people, roofers, children, local politicians. People you would not expect to do something like this are here. Some have hard exteriors, but when you peel away the layers, you find loving people. People who miss something like this are missing a part of life that is essential.''
Rosa Carver and her family may be able to move into their new home by Thanksgiving at the earliest, Christmas at the latest. Saunders said the greatest obstacle to another home being built for another needy family is land, a commodity in short supply in Dare County.
``We got going on this in 1992,'' Saunders said. ``The key has been finding property in Dare County. the only reason we were able to find the property for Rosa's house was because of a guy named Roland Shock. He told us about this property. It had been purchased by the Resolution Trust Corp. It took about a year, but we were able to get the property for $500. Betsy Butler, a lawyer with Aycock, Spence and Butler, worked with us, and made it happen. What we're able to do in the future will hinge on whether or not we will be able to find additional property.''
Until that additional property comes along, Dare County Habitat for Humanity's first house, an effort that began two years ago, is slowly but surely coming along. There is no need to look at the front wall as it is put in place, or the foundation, or the sweaty faces of the men, women and children who work side by side.
Look instead at the faces of Rosa Carver's family. Listen to their words.
``It makes me feel good to see people reaching out like this. I thought helping other people had died out,'' said Rosa's brother Calvin Carver. ``People still love each other.''
Rosa's mother, Vera Basnight, looks at the assembled multitude. ``This makes you feel wonderful. This is what the world should be.''
And then there is Rosa. Standing next to Natalie Cologgi, a single mom who came to help because she remembered when friends came to help her build her house.
Rosa's face says it all. She is thinking about her own room. Rooms for her children. Cooking Christmas dinner for her whole family in her house.
``I can't stop smiling,'' she said. ``This will be the second thing I've ever owned. I used to say `The house,' or `the property. Now I can say `My house.' ''
But for Rosa Carver, it's more than owning a home. It's abut hope for the Carver family.
``There were times when I felt like I just couldn't keep going,'' she said. ``I wondered where God was. But now I know there are people who love me, and that God loves me too.'' ILLUSTRATION: [Color] Photos by DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Habitat for Humanity volunteers raise a wall, above, on a house for
Rosa Carver, who shares her feelings with worker Chuck Dishner, top
right. Volunteers bustle about to prepare the house's foundation,
bottom right.
KEYWORDS: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY by CNB