
DATE: Sunday, May 25, 1997                  TAG: 9705250036

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   93 lines

HABITAT IS ASSEMBLING A CORPS OF VOLUNTEERS

It wasn't enough for Theresa Cowell that she put in more than 400 hours of sweat equity building her own Habitat for Humanity house.

Now she's volunteering to help build a house for a stranger.

Make that a former stranger.

Cowell has made Lelia Lott feel at home, even before Lott's home is built.

The two women met just a few days ago, exchanging hugs in Cowell's living room in Norfolk.

Cowell talked nonstop about owning a home.

Lott cried and smiled.

``Normally I'm not a quiet person, but this just shut my mouth,'' Lott said.

It's not so much that Cowell will be hammering, sawing and painting with other Habitat volunteers working on Lott's new house on Wingfield Road in Chesapeake.

More important for Lott is that Cowell will be available to talk to.

``She's been there. She can give me more insight,'' said Lott, 39, a mother of two and a receptionist for a veterinarian. ``I could relate to what she's been saying about financially struggling and trying to raise your children.''

Cowell, 36, a mother of three and a pre-kindergarten teacher at Christ the King School, worked two jobs and took in foster children to prepare for buying her house.

``It was a rough road. Very rough,'' recalled Cowell, one of several Habitat home owners on the program's family support committee. ``I used to ride around neighborhoods and look at homes, and I said, `Maybe.' But it went from doubt to actually happening.''

Sylvia Hallock, executive director of the South Hampton Roads affiliate of Habitat for Humanity, hopes the idea of program homeowners helping newcomers becomes a tradition.

Cowell, she said, is the second to serve as such a mentor.

``It's one of the goals,'' Hallock said, ``that within the next two years our homeowners association will take over this duty of guiding new families into the program'' under the leadership of Michele Johnson, family-support coordinator.

The practice of Habitat home owners helping each other also will instill leadership qualities, Hallock said.

``It's sort of a recommitment,'' she said. ``It's a reminder that a Habitat home owner is expected to set an example to the community.''

Since 1990, the region's Habitat affiliate has helped 40 families buy low-cost homes built by volunteers. Another 10 are scheduled for development this year, including Lott's.

Lott's house is being built by an all-female crew of volunteers under ``The House That Jill Built'' part of the Habitat program.

The three-bedroom home will cost $42,500, which means a $200 monthly payment at zero interest for nearly 18 years.

Cowell's house also was a Jill project.

Mentoring Lott, said Cowell, also gives her a chance to relive some memories of her experiences in helping to build her own house.

Cowell recalled laying bricks, hanging drywall, wrapping insulation, tiling the roof, painting the porch and working beside the volunteers.

``I never knew what you put into a house,'' Cowell said. ``Every inch is important.''

Lott said she's already received a lesson about being precise from volunteers working on her house.

``We had something that was off one-eighth of an inch and we took it down,'' Lott said.

It also made her better appreciate the volunteers.

``That impressed me because I'm quite sure there's a lot of houses where that's not important,'' Lott said. ``But they cared enough about where I'm going to be living to do it the right way. That touched me.

``And there were about 15 women out there working on Mother's Day.''

Cowell agreed. ``A lot of love went into it,'' she said. ``The people who work with Habitat really care about other people.''

As the two reveled in their good fortune, each pledged to continue volunteering in Habitat or other community programs.

``It's just a blessing that people do care and they want other people to have these opportunities,'' Lott said. ``That's why I will volunteer.''

Theresa Cowell and Lelia Lott. Strangers no more. MEMO: For information about Habitat for Humanity or The House That Jill

Built, call 625-1281. ILLUSTRATION: BETH BERGMAN photos/The Virginian-Pilot

BUILDING FRIENDSHIPS

Theresa Cowell, right, welcomes Lelia Lott as they meet in Cowell's

living room in Norfolk. Habitat for Humanity built Cowell's home,

and now Cowell is helping the group build one for Lott in

Chesapeake. Lott says she's grateful for Cowell's presence and

support.