Her sons helped earn hours—Christopher, then nineteen, by doing construction, and Cortney, then thirteen, by volunteering with his mother and older brother at Habitat’s Restore, which sells donated used and surplus building supplies to raise funds to build more houses.
In about a year, the family earned the required hours. On September 9, 2006, Jackson and a crew of women volunteers assembled and raised the first walls of the home. Because her home was mostly built in a single week as a “blitz” build, Jackson was able to take a week of vacation from work in order to help at the construction site through the entire process.
She was amazed to see her house built in a week, but she thought the volunteers who came out to help her were even more amazing: “I couldn’t believe it because they were taking time off from their jobs to come out and help.”
At the end of the week, on the last day of the build, Jackson and First Lady Daniels worked together to finish a wall in the garage. Later that day—as volunteers began cleaning up and the time came to dedicate the house—Jackson looked around at all the people who had helped build her house and was overwhelmed with gratitude. “I kept saying, ‘I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to cry.’ But I ended up crying.”
“From the volunteers to the wonderful education provided to the home owners, Habitat for Humanity is an outstanding organization,” Daniels said. “They give a hand up not a hand out.”
All the family members show their pride at having their own home. These days, Christopher and Cortney wash the dishes and do other chores without being asked. And, “they keep their rooms cleaner,” Jackson says.
This fall, Cortney will return to high school, where he plays basketball. Christopher, who also enjoys sports, works with the summer program at the Charles Black Recreation Center. This fall he’ll attend Indiana University South Bend.
As for Jackson, while her sweat equity requirement has been fulfilled, she still plans to be back out on the construction site this fall, swinging her hammer on another Women Build house, alongside many of the same volunteers who helped build her home. “I feel like they helped me. I can still go out.”
As is often the case, Habitat has gained not only a homeowner but also a volunteer.
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