THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512280126
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 203 lines
Dondra M. Harrell dreamed of owning her own home. But after several futile attempts and a lot of frustration, Harrell gave up and emptied her checking account for a deposit on an apartment.
``Every time I tried to buy a house, something just stopped me,'' said the 33-year-old mother of four. ``Everything was all set to purchase one nice little townhouse, then at the last minute, the seller changed her mind. I guess the Lord didn't want me to be there,'' Harrell said.
She considered buying a house in Virginia Beach. But it needed a lot of repairs and she didn't like the neighborhood.
``I have three girls. I just didn't feel safe there,'' she said.
After that experience, Harrell said, she just sat down and cried.
But it wan't long before her dream came true.
The day before Thanksgiving, Harrell moved into a new house on Oliver Street in South Norfolk. It was the first house in the city made available through Habitat for Humanity, a Christian housing ministry that helps low-income families purchase homes with no-interest loans.
``I love it. I love it. I love it,'' Harrell said. ``I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.''
Chesapeake Housing and Redevelopment Authority donated the lot and the home was built by Centex Homes.
``Habitat is a very worthwhile cause,'' said Jode L. Kirk, division president of Centex Homes in Hampton Roads and a Great Bridge resident.
``It fits in with our business,'' Kirk said. ``Since we do this for a living, we can use our expertise to help people buy their own homes, people who would not normally have that opportunity.''
Over the past three years, Centex Homes, with 40 locations across the country, has constructed 100 Habitat for Humanity houses nationwide.
``We built this house in a flash (22 days) because we could and because we were trying to beat the Thanksgiving move-in goal,'' said Louis L. Tourgee III, division vice president for CTX Mortgage, Centex Homes' mortgage division. ``We had been planning and talking about it since the first of the year. Once the Habitat folks secured the lot and we got some house plans approved, it was a fairly simple exercise.''
``Centex is the first construction company to sponsor a home for us,'' said Sylvia Hallock, area executive director for Habitat for Humanity. ``We would like for them to become the model for other construction companies in the area.
``It was a wonderful to have Centex as the builder of our first home in Chesapeake,'' she said. ``It was done very quickly and professionally. We went from ground-breaking to move-in in four to five weeks. We would love to have the subcontractors who worked on that project come back and work on other projects.''
In addition to demonstrating need, Habitat homesteaders must have an adequate income and have a good credit rating. They must also contribute at least 400 hours of ``sweat equity,'' volunteer time on Habitat projects, either their own house or someone else's.
Many houses are built from start to finish by Habitat for Humanity volunteers. But in the case of the Centex house, about 40 subcontractors were involved.
``Centex Homes and CTX Mortgage co-sponsored 100 percent of this home,'' Tourgee said. ``The real credit goes to our subcontractors. They did all the work. Along with the suppliers, they gave us labor and materials at a reduced expense. This made it a little easier for us to do than for some other Habitat sponsors.''
Harrell, 33, has undergone surgery and chemotherapy for cancer. She works in the Defense Distribution Department at Norfolk Naval base. The South Norfolk native was a 1980 Indian River High School graduate.
She said her stomach did flip-flops when she learned that she had been selected as a Habitat recipient.
``I know that buying a house consists of spending money, and I had no money,'' she said.
After learning that no down payment or closing costs were required, she found the courage to apply.
Then, one day, she received a telephone call informing her she would become a homeowner.
``Habitat called and said, `You got a house!' After that I was flying on a cloud,'' she said. ``I know the Lord works miracles. But I didn't know it was going to be like that.''
``I've been struggling for so long, I guess the Lord heard my prayers,'' she said.
Her 16-year-old daughter, Deneka Harrell, wouldn't allow herself to get too excited when she first heard the news about the Habitat house.
``When we started looking for a house, we kept getting the run-around,'' said Deneka, who works after school at T.J. Maxx. ``We'd get all psyched up. Then it would fall through. It just crushed our hopes.''
Now that her mortgage payment is lower than the rent to which she is accustomed, Harrell hopes she can work fewer overtime hours and spend more time with her children.
``I have been working just about every night and Saturdays,'' she said.
The second Habitat for Humanity house built in Chesapeake is on Spadina Street in South Norfolk.
``We teamed up with the Chesapeake Housing and Redevelopment Authority and Tidewater Builders,'' said Hallock of Habitat for Humanity. ``It's been a wonderful working relationship.''
Much of the house was built by disadvantaged young people who are enrolled in the Tidewater Builders' Association's apprenticeship building program.
Then the Housing and Redevelopment Authority purchased the house through the Federal Home Program, which is funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
``The housing authority enters into joint ventures with nonprofit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity to provide affordable housing opportunities for low-income, first-time home buyers,'' said Amy Lassiter, director of programs and community development. ``The housing authority administers the home program on behalf of the city.
``We purchase homes at cost and relocate the houses to recently acquired vacant lots,'' Lassister said. ``The house and lots are donated to Habitat for Humanity. This is the first time that Habitat has been involved.
``The authority is very excited about the opportunity to work with the TBA and Habitat in providing more affordable housing opportunities for residents of the city,'' Lassiter said. ``We are looking forward to donating land in Chesapeake now that we can expand our program in the city.''
Lewis A. and Vivian A. Taylor learned at Habitat for Humanity's annual meeting this year that they would move into their Spadina Street Habitat house before the end of January.
``I have wanted a home of my own ever since we got married,'' said Vivian Taylor, 51. ``That was 35 years ago. We sacrificed everything so I could stay home while our five children were growing up. Once they started getting out of the house, having our own house sort of went on a back burner.
``Then he (Lewis Taylor) started getting sick with gout and arthritis,'' said Taylor, a crew leader at Smithfield Packing's Norfolk plant.
``It was difficult for him to get up to the second-floor bedroom,'' she said. ``That's when we started again thinking about moving. But everywhere we looked there was a brick wall. Apartments and houses were so expensive.''
Then she heard about Habitat for Humanity.
``But I still thought the program was for people who live in public housing,'' she said. ``Then our daughter Michelle (Johnson) brought home an application for Habitat. Every day she asked if I had filled it out.
``My husband is a very independent-type person,'' she said. ``When I asked him about it, his response was `That's charity; we don't need charity.' So Michelle and I went undercover.''
In spite of her husband's reluctance, Taylor filled out the application and turned it in. Shortly thereafter, she learned that they would become owners of a new house.
``Michelle and I did everything without Lewis,'' she said. ``We kept it quiet until they moved the house to the site. I'll never forget that Sunday morning. I got up and fixed breakfast and told Lewis I was going to the grocery store.
``I went over to the site,'' she said. ``There was no house, and I felt sad.''
Taylor heard a chain saw, then saw a man standing on top of her house. He was cutting off tree limbs so that the house could be moved down the street.
``My heart started to pound,'' she said. ``I stayed right there and watched them put it (the house) on the lot.
Soon thereafter she took her husband to the site.
``This is your new home,'' I told him. ``He just couldn't believe it and kept saying, `Is it really ours?' ''
``My wife and I just cried when we saw the house,'' said Lewis Taylor, a Norfolk native.
``It's unbelievable to feel so good,'' he said. ``It's a nice house. Just the right size. I'd like a porch on the back so I can sit.''
Taylor is a barber and works every day at Touch of Class Beauty Salon in Norfolk.
But when he was 9 years old, Taylor lost both legs in a train accident while gathering coal that fell along railroad tacks in the Berkeley section of Norfolk. He'd sell the coal to help his parents pay the bills.
Wearing prostheses on both legs didn't prevent him from graduating from Booker T. Washington High School in 1959 nor from meeting the requirements to complete barber college in Chesapeake.
Taylor, who has been a barber for 29 years, can stand and walk with the help of crutches. But at work he sits on a stool attached to the bottom of a styling chair. He works by turning the chair.
``I've had to get around,'' he said. ``I had to raise my family. The only time I miss my legs is during the football season. I might have played football.''
Over the years, Taylor's faith and positive attitude have pulled him through many difficult times.
``When folks get depressed, they should pray and ask God to give them stamina,'' he said. ``You've got to suck it up and do it. That'll take away all your frustrations.'' MEMO: HABITAT FOR HUMANITY
More information about becoming a volunteer or donor to Habitat for
Humanity or about applying for a Habitat for Humanity home is available
by contacting Sylvia Hallock, executive director, at South Hampton Roads
Habitat for Humanity Inc., 109 E. Main Street, Suite 401, Norfolk, Va.
23510 or call (804) 625-1281.
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Habitat for Humanity recipient Dondra Harrell begins filling up her
new home in South Norfolk by placing a chair in the kitchen.
Vivian Taylor will be moving into a house on Spadina Avenue.
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Terry Harrell gets a hug from her daughter, Dondra, who moved into
the Habitat for Humanity home. Dondra's smiling father, Hiawatha, is
looking on.
Vivian Taylor and her husband, Arthur, are looking forward to moving
into their new home.
Isaac Wilson, a brick mason, is one of an army of volunteer
workers.
Centex Homes has constructed 100 Habitat for Humanity houses.
by CNB