Pensacola Habitat for Humanity 1981-2018 (Second Edition)

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Pensacola Habitat for Humanity -Second Edition1981-2018

Written by Charlotte Crane Cover Illustration by Katherine Chen

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Chapter 1 “We build people while we build houses.’’ – Betty Salter

Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity International, had by 1981, 13 years into his mission, fostered construction of homes in places worldwide – from Georgia and Guatemala to Fort Myers and Zaire. Pensacolian Wilhelmina McNamara thought, why not in Pensacola, too?

That was the start.

“Decent housing is crucial to economic self-development,’’ McNamara that year told a Pensacola News Journal reporter. “The economically poor need capital, not charity; co-workers, not case workers.’’ A University of West Florida study, she said, indicated Pensacola had 10,000 homes that fell into the “substandard’’ category.

McNamara scoured the Yellow Pages and contacted church leaders to help her lay the groundwork for the local nonprofit, Pensacola Habitat for Humanity. They embarked on fund-raising; they recruited volunteers – including, significantly, one named Betty Salter. Said McNamara in the News Journal interview: “We need people knowledgeable in construction, financing, fund-raising. We 4

need the support of civic and church groups.’’

Pensacola Habitat got what was needed – one might say, “in spades.’’

Since 1981, Pensacola Habitat volunteers from churches, civic groups, construction companies, fundraisers, banks, landowners, and on-site hammer-wielding crews – including student groups from across the country and beyond – have built or renovated more than 1,300 homes in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. Today’s Habitat enrolls an annual roster of volunteer workers numbering as many as 8,000.

Wilhelmina McNamara,

founder of Pensacola Among more than 1,000 U.S. affiliates of Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (formed in 1976 in Americus, Ga.), Pensacola, in fiscal year 2010, ranked 10th in number of homes built. In the fiscal year which ended June 30, 2011, Pensacola Habitat completed 75 homes.

Between 2010 and early 2013, the local Habitat will complete construction of 320 homes funded through a $24 million grant, one of the largest among seven stimulus fund grants totaling $137 million distributed by Habitat International and grant money received from the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development.

The goal of the HUD program, called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, is to stabilize communities suffering from foreclosures and abandoned properties. As of February 2012, Pensacola Habitat had completed 225 of those grant-funded homes and another 50 were under way.

In May 2011, in an environment reflecting the nation’s economic recession and housing downturn, Pensacola Habitat’s single-family home sales in Escambia County accounted for the largest market share among all homebuilders, at 15.22%.

In that same month, Pensacola Habitat founder Wilhelmina McNamara died in Atlanta, at age 94.

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On Sept. 19th 2011, at the dinner gathering marking Pensacola Habitat’s 30th anniversary, homeowners were among those who celebrated its work. One of those speaking to the hundreds attending was Rhonda Snell, a Navy veteran left a widow with two young children a decade or more ago when her husband, also in Navy service, died. Said Snell: “I don’t know what I would have done without Habitat. I finished school, have had a job at Lakeview for 10 years, and my kids are in college and work. It feels so good to have this house.’’ Her Habitat-home savings – interest-free mortgage payments that amounted to half the monthly rent she had been paying – enabled her to return to school, learn new skills as a medical secretary and support her family.

Habitat has never sold a mortgage on the homes that are built, but uses the income stream from the monthly payments to pay for construction requirements to build more homes. Although homeowners are provided with interest-free mortgages, they are required to put in 200 hours of “sweat equity’’ in constructing Habitat homes. Meanwhile, increased home ownership also benefits the economy and local government. Habitat-built homes in 2011, for example, accounted for $364,000 in local property taxes paid; it also has been estimated that in 2010, Habitat construction provided a $33 million economic impact.

The story of Pensacola Habitat for Humanity is very much a story of Betty Salter and her husband, James Salter.

Soon after the early organization efforts for the new humanitarian program got under way, Betty Salter checked it out. “I saw in the News Journal where they were meeting. Everybody needs an affordable home.’’ Betty had worked for 20 years, in the 1960s and 1970s, for Singer Sewing Co. as a sewing teacher and teacher trainer, and a for a time was also a reporter for the Santa Rosa Press Gazette.

“One of my first volunteer jobs with Habitat was to be on the selection committee,’’ she recalled. “That was one of the worst jobs in 29 years. You’d visit such awful places and go home and couldn’t sleep that night. There was one home, a cement block house, with leaks in the roof so bad they had four garbage cans placed around 6

the house to catch the rain.’’

She also recalled the first dedication of a Habitat-built home, where the owner, a grandmother with five grandchildren living with her, “praised God for getting her out of the rats and the rain.’’

Said Betty, “It took us several years before that first home was built.

We had so little money. You’d go to people and ask for help and people would say, ‘Habitat who?’ ’’ But that changed.

Betty Salter became a member of the first board of directors in 1984. In 1990, when it became apparent that Pensacola Habitat needed an executive director – but could not afford to hire one – Betty Salter volunteered. She kept the post for 21 years. And she never took a paycheck. She broke the record for the longest-serving volunteer executive director among Habitat affiliates.

Soon after Betty began volunteering with Habitat, her husband retired from his job as engineering manager at BellSouth after a 37.5-year career. About that same time, said James, someone quit at Habitat and Betty recruited him. He spent the next 23 years as a construction supervisor and team leader, putting in seven hours a day, six days a week, he estimated – and like Betty, without pay.

“Nobody came earlier or stayed later,’’ said his wife.

The job had its rewards, said James Salter. “It kept me going. I like to build, have a contractor’s license. I meant to become a builder then, but worked for Habitat instead.’’

There were also memorable moments like watching how proud people were when they got to move in, he said. And working with groups of college kids who would come in the summer to help build homes. “They didn’t know what they were doing; I taught them where the nails go. It gave them satisfaction and made them happy, which made me happy.’’

The philosophy of Habitat for Humanity has always been embedded in a Christian context. Millard Fuller, the Habitat founder (who died in 2009), consistently described his concept as “the theology 7

of the hammer’’ – which also was the title of a book he published in 1994. What the phrase means, he wrote, is that “our Christian faith (indeed, our entire Judeo-Christian tradition) mandates that we do more than just talk about faith and sing about love. We must put faith and love into action to make them real, to make them come alive for people.’’ Fuller also noted: “Another important aspect of ‘the theology of the hammer’ is the belief that we are called by God to the work of housing the world’s poor.’’

There’s little doubt that Betty and James Salter subscribed wholeheartedly to Fuller’s belief that God’s work was at play here.

Through the years, Betty has noted, Escambia County Commissioner Pensacola Habitat was frequently in Wilson Roberts with Betty and dire need of land to build on, money James Salter. to buy materials, and volunteers to do the work. But then appeared the “godsends.’’ Always, she observed, “God seemed to provide what was needed when it was needed.’’

She mentioned an example: “James was giving a speech about Habitat in the early ‘90s and said he needed a plumber. And we had three volunteer.’’

There were dozens of like instances, reported Betty. A few samples: The city of Pensacola once forgave the liens on upwards of 100 lots – lots where the homes were either condemned or where the owner owed more than the lot was worth – and the city’s action thus facilitated donation of the lots to Habitat.

When Tony Hughes, then CEO of the former First National Bank of Santa Rosa, called up and asked if Habitat would like an interestfree loan, Betty was receptive – and emboldened to ask seven other banks to do likewise. Barring that first offer, she said, “I would never have thought to ask them to do that.’’

And when 10 houses taking up half a block of E Street downtown 8

were condemned and the lots became available, Habitat needed them but lacked the $15,000 the Realtor was asking, plus $6,000 in demolition cost. The next day Sharon Kerrigan, wife of a prominent attorney, called and said she’d heard Habitat needed land. When Betty explained the dilemma, she was told, “We’ll take care of it.’’

And the check arrived in the morning.

How to account for such enthusiastic devotion? For such phenomenal growth? – from building just three houses in three years to building 850 houses in 30 years – and 320 more to come by 2013.

A couple of accountings: Mary Fleming, who herself by this writing had worked for nearly 30 years with Habitat – variously as board member, president, caterer, selection committee chairman, family mentor, etc. – recalls how she was recruited. “Wilhelmina McNamara knocked on the door and said, ‘I want to tell you about Habitat.’ I told her I was in the middle of catering my daughter’s wedding, and I didn’t have time. And she left the book, ‘Love in the Mortar Joints’ in my mailbox.’’ Fleming took note of that doctrine described in the book, one of Fuller’s earlier writings. Commenting recently: “It is the most Christianoriented organization, as far as doing the work, I’ve ever been involved with.’’

Residential developer Dick Baker said he couldn’t exactly remember when he and business partner Dan Gilmore started volunteering for Habitat. He only recalled, with a chuckle, how it came about. In the early ’90s, Habitat operated out of a couple of donated rooms in the downtown Blount office building and he and Gilmore had a development office down the hall – so situated, said Baker, “that if I walked down the hall to the elevator or the bathroom, I had to pass by her office and was taking a chance Betty would grab me to ask me to help, usually to analyze a piece of property. About that time, Habitat received a large chunk of land, so Dan and I developed that into the 23-lot Faith subdivision’’ – Habitat’s first subdivision.

Recalled Betty, “I knew I could count on them.’’ In 2011, Baker was invited to join the staff full-time to find the building 9

lots – ultimately 320 home sites – needed to fulfill the building requirements of the $24-million federal grant.

When you’d ask Betty Salter, “How many heroes and helpers have given Pensacola Habitat the growth and accomplishments it’s known by today?’’ the answer could be long and meander down many avenues. As she remembered people and places, git was sparked with tales of sacrifice and dedication.

There was Marcel Gauthier, who worked on houses with a chemotherapy vial on his belt to control his cancer. And Blaine Schrag, who had terminal bone cancer and was expected to live only a short time, but began making marathon bicycle rides, both around town and out to San Diego, to raise money for Habitat – and in Betty’s recollection lived another 10 years.

Betty Salter always applauded a kaleidoscope of contributors: the seamstress ladies who made quilts as dedication gifts to new homeowners, money-raisers such as birdhouse crafters and lapel pin designers, the hardworking hammerers and the meticulous bookkeepers, and many more.

She would always end the recounting with, “But I’m so afraid I’ll leave someone out.’’

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Chapter 2 They saw the need. They knew the joy – and the sweat.

In 1994, Pensacola homebuilder Edwin Henry built a house for Habitat in five hours, 59 minutes and 57 seconds – the idea, he said, was to get Volunteers pose for a group shot in front attention and attract more of Edwin Henry’s 1994 blitz build home. donors. It was effective, partly for setting a record – while he admits records were made to be broken – but also for garnering the presence of Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, and Jack Kemp, former head of the U.S. Office of Housing and Urban Development.

A little good publicity, crafted with a hearty dash of creativity, always seemed to have a beneficial effect on the growth of Pensacola Habitat.

Henry organized several Blitz Builds, in one of them building three houses in 11 hours, 32 minutes and 18 seconds, with the help of 500 volunteers, who included people from the Navy and churches 11

and employees of two counties, aided by willing subcontractors who installed heating and electrical systems and roofing. Sometimes the primary object for him wasn’t a story in the local newspaper. In 1991, soon after Henry joined the Habitat board, he built one of his standard 2,200-square-foot homes in 19 hours and sold it, “to raise enough Sue Straughn, News Anchor money from the sale to build three with WEAR, reporting on the houses for Habitat, free and clear.’’

1994 blitz build minutes before the home’s completion.

Ask again: Why such dedication? Said Henry: “The first thing that got me involved was when Betty (Salter) sent me to look at a house that needed some attention, wanting my opinion as to whether it was worth remodeling.’’ He took a look. “You could see the dirt clear through the floor, the plumbing leaked so bad you couldn’t use it, so they had to run a hose from the outside; it was just horrible.

The lady living there was divorced, ill, working odd jobs and had a young child. I said if you try to fix this house, it will fall down, so we built that house -- Betty did. She showed me the need.’’

As for the lady in the house, reported Henry: “It changed her life, her little girl got on the honor roll, and she got a good job at the hospital. It changed her outlook and gave her the confidence and courage to do better.’’

And as for Henry himself: “The reward is that you’re helping people who are trying to help themselves.’’

Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity International, joined in on the construction of the 1994 blitz build.

Whether it was building one house faster or chalking up gains whenever the calendar’s spin called for a new benchmarking, acceleration characterized the track of Pensacola Habitat for Humanity throughout its 30-year history.

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The organization’s founders launched the local Habitat in 1981.

By 1983, it had renovated one house, rehabilitated another and had its first new house under construction.

The fourth new home was completed in 1989.

Together, leaders and volunteers built four more homes in 1990, six in 1991, 13 in 1992, 14 in 1993 and 20 in 1994. The momentum was rolling and the totals were adding up: 200 by 1999, 300 by 2001, and by 2010 over 800.

In the 12 months ending in September 2011, 103 families closed on their new Habitat homes.

For many of those dedicated to fulfilling Habitat’s purpose, creativity was key.

Bob Bruner helped fund two Habitat houses out of his gumball and candy machines – one home, built in 1999 in Midway, was dubbed “The Candy House.’’ For years, Bruner had worked for soft drink companies, Barq’s and Coke, and then in the mid-’90s decided to try a vending machine business on his own, settling on the coinoperated treat-dispensers. “They’d average $7 or $8 per machine per month. I had up to 450 of them, the most I had, putting them out for close to 15 years. I originally was going to give $1 per machine per month to Habitat, but through the years gave a larger share.’’

Those shares had grown to $45,136 as of October 2011, at a time when 50 or so of the machines were still in play.

For Quayside Gallery artist Donna Coble, the shtick was birdhouses – birdhouses built by volunteers, decorated by artist volunteers, and sold by the hundreds, beginning in 1994, at seven big annual auction shows at Cordova Mall with the help of Cordova marketing director Candy Carlisle. “I got hooked, I painted six or eight a year,’’ says Coble. “One of my favorites was the painting of the man and woman standing in front of the house with the pitchfork (the American Gothic painting by Grant Wood). And lots of artists did collages; one was a cat with its mouth open, and that was the entrance to the house! Another was decorated for Walkin’ Lawton (Chiles) with little footprints – and he autographed it.’’

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Sales proceeds over the years from the birdhouses went to Habitat.

“People love Habitat; it’s such a good idea.’’

Selling “house pins’’ was another productive moneymaker, this one combining novelty fashion with advertising subtlety. The colorful miniature home pins, created by national artist Mary Martin, were a favorite emblem of Linda Fuller, wife of national Habitat founder Millard Fuller. Ona Gilbert, a member of the Pensacola Habitat service committee, was among the pins’ most successful salespersons locally, especially among fellow churchgoers at Trinity Presbyterian Church. Says Gilbert: “Betty was telling me about the pins. I bought one, people asked me where I got that pin, and so I called Habitat and they gave me 30 or 40....I think I sold more than 100, some priced at $10, and some at $20 apiece.’’ Altogether, the pins netted Habitat about $50,000 through the years, noted Betty.

“We all sold them.’’

Throughout the 1990s, creative contributions in a variety of venues generated revenue to build more houses.

There was the concert by four rock bands raising $600 in 1992; noted the newspaper report, “The performers didn’t get any money, but the concert organizer, Kent Stanton, brought each band a case of beer.’’

In 1999, artist Nina Fritz gave a watercolor, “Three Ballerinas’’ as part of a second annual Habitat fundraiser by St. Ann’s Catholic Church. The Framery in Gulf Breeze donated the framing and matting.

That same year, the Sertoma Fishing Rodeo raised $8,000 to divide between several charities, one of them being Habitat.

Habitat enthusiasts often used talents to further the cause – and further it they did.

Jasmine Garden Club, one of the Pensacola Garden Club affiliates, provided the money, sod and hands-on work for landscaping of five homes through the years, said Nancy Williamson, a Jasmine member and secretary for the regional Garden Clubs. “And then at the dedication we’d present the homeowners with a lawnmower and 14

a gas tank.’’

For the four years prior to this writing, the Pensacola Quilters Guild had stitched handmade quilts to be gifted to each of the Habitat owners on their home’s dedication day. There were some 200 quilts in all, created by about 20 talented, hands-on quilting hobbyists, according to committee chairman Suzanne Wernick.

The project is ongoing.

And Blaine Schrag rode his bike.

In 1995, despite being ill with cancer, he began making marathon rides for Habitat, raising $2,000 in 1996 with a ride to Habitat International’s original home town in Americus, Ga., then aspiring for a bigger return with a cycling trip to San Diego in 1998.

His Habitat donations totaled nearly $10,000. And for several years after his death, Navarre Beach residents honored Schrag posthumously with an annual Blaine Schrag Beach Bike Bash, benefiting Habitat and a Santa Rosa County charity.

For thousands of volunteers, just the thrill of a day plying hammer and nails had its appeal. And its returns.

From 1992 until September of 2010, Bill Ledbetter was a crew leader for Pensacola Habitat, leading 300 some home builds.

“Other than being a squadron commander in the Air Force,’’ said Ledbetter, “working for Habitat has been my greatest life experience.’’

He was a retired Air Force major and a retired vice president of Lockheed Support Systems when he and his wife moved to Florida in 1992. “I knew I just couldn’t sit around.’’ He saw Jimmy Carter talking about Habitat on a show on PBS. Then a neighbor was about to work a homebuilding sponsored by First Methodist Church. Soon, Ledbetter joined the Habitat movement, making a contribution recognized by Habitat with the accolade, “Volunteer of the Decade’’ for 2000 to 2010.

His view: “It kept me in pretty good shape and gave me an immense amount of satisfaction.’’ Regarding those he helped: “I think a lot of them are great people and great homeowners. Most take good care 15

of houses and appreciate them.’’ For their children, especially, the homes should be “a place where they can grow up and can make something of themselves.’’

Jim Williamson, husband of Nancy Williamson of the Garden Clubs, had initially volunteered with a Gulfport, MS, Habitat before moving to Pensacola and recalls being aware of aiming to model the Gulfport efforts after the accomplishments of Betty and James Salter. His services in Pensacola include being a construction team member for eight years and also eight-year member of the Habitat board.

Bill Arnold, after retiring from his career as a pharmacist, spent 14 or 15 years as a construction leader, every Wednesday until 2009 joining a group of six or seven other volunteers to build houses.

“It’s rewarding and interesting work,’’ he said. For the past several years, he’s crafted the plaques that are given to Habitat volunteers.

Dorothy Ogletree, a retired middle school teacher, initially joined Habitat volunteers in 2007 as a member of AmeriCorps, and when her two years were up, she continued with Habitat.

As of this writing, she was still volunteering, doing home visits as a member of the screening committee, planning dedications and recruiting sorority sisters in Delta Sigma Theta to volunteer.

The reward: “the feeling of really accomplishing something.’’

Bob Stoyer, a retired civil engineer Dorothy Ogletree speaking at a home with a construction company, had dedication. met Millard Fuller earlier in his career in Salt Lake City and thought him “an incredible guy’’ and the program “fantastic.’’ So, once retired, he went back to work as a Pensacola Habitat volunteer and construction leader, starting at House No. 6, then retired from that pro bono career about 15 years later, sometime after House No. 200.

Stoyer fine-tuned construction and drew house plans, including the plans for the first five-bedroom homes, according to Betty 16

Salter. His wife, Suzie, also joined the cause, building up the Habitat Volunteer Corps and engaging in Women Build. Habitat’s classroom building at 1060 N. Tarragona was named Stoyer Hall in their honor.

Four or more Women Builds were held, with 50 or more women doing all the work of constructing a home, recalls Habitat board member Joanne Perry, who was a Women Build team leader, aided by longtime volunteer Phyllis Clayton, who also served as a construction crew leader. A possible motivating factor was “the general platitudes of women not being able to build a house,’’ said Perry.

Numerous outstanding volunteers were recognized by the dedication of homes in their honor. Among them: national founder Millard Fuller, Pensacola founder Wilhelmina McNamara, former Habitat president Eva Scott, office volunteer Marge Dwiggins Ellsworth, George Stone teacher and construction leader Paul Gingrey, office volunteer Chuck Liem, and Maxine Arnold, wife of longtime volunteer Bill Arnold.

Habitat’s good works often were energized by religious fervor.

Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church in Gulf Breeze dedicated its 25th sponsored Habitat house in November 2011. Its first was built in 1990. Among churches, says Betty, “they led the way. They were the guiding light.’’ Dozens of other congregations subsequently shared that spirit.

As of late 2011, some 280 members of the Gulf Breeze church were signed up to help with Habitat construction, said Terrye Takacs, church director of senior adult ministry and guest services. “We estimate 80 to 120 volunteers per build. They could be doing landscaping, making lunches, framing, painting, or nailing anything from shingles to siding to trusses to decking for the roof.’’

Even before their first funded home, church members worked on builds throughout the Pensacola area, she said. Paying the cost for a home as of late 2011 required $25,000; some earlier homes were sponsored at costs between $10,000 and $15,000.

Their members’ benefit?

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“We get to see a tangible life-changing situation, when someone comes from inadequate and unfordable housing, and moves to a position of permanence, without the rats and mold,’’ Members of Gulf Breeze United Methodist said Takacs. “When we can Church working to build a home in 2011. bring people out of adverse conditions... and see how the families grow and blossom, that’s why we do what we do, and because they work with us, they put their efforts into it as well... and they feel good about it too.’’

In ensuing years, the response among other area churches was nothing short of evangelical. By 1997, reported Betty, 39 congregations had joined in support of the Habitat effort.

Among leaders: St. Ann Catholic, Gulf Breeze, at 19 houses; St. Luke United Methodist Church, Pensacola, 15 houses; Trinity Presbyterian Church, Pensacola, 15. For each of these, the homes count is as of fall 2011; sponsorship typically included financing and labor.

“What you do for a community comes back to you twofold,’’ said Bev Ishol, as of 2011 the St. Ann’s Habitat coordinator for a dozen years, and one of dozens of church members involved. “It’s good to see people who were living in substandard conditions have a home of their own, and there’s self-satisfaction in helping with that.’’

Acceleration, creativity and generosity all thrived among the volunteers and contributors who nurtured Pensacola Habitat in its first 30 years. Media coverage shared news of the accomplishments, somehow spreading the word across the country. Within a decade of the local affiliate’s startup, word had sufficiently spread that church members, college students, and sometimes even high school students, were trucking in during spring breaks and summer holidays, to participate in home building – from places such as Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL; Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC; Elim Lutheran Church in Scandia, MN; and Knox Presbyterian Church in Kansas City.

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Even in its early years, Pensacola Habitat also had become wellrenowned among leaders and affiliates in the Habitat movement around the country, partly due to Blitz Builds and those roundnumbered, three-digit milestone occasions, to which Millard Fuller and other leaders were usually invited.

As a result, in 1996, when the International Habitat for Humanity organization looked for a location for the building of its 50,000th home worldwide, Pensacola was the chosen site.

Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for And Edwin Henry, known for Humanity International, speaking at blitz his Blitz Build leadership and build in 1996, which was also Habitat for enthusiastic Habitat support, Humanity’s 50,000th home worldwide. was the chosen builder. On Sept. 1 that year, 1,000 volunteers worked to build that house, at 1166 N. F St. downtown.

Millard Fuller, who attended, called Pensacola Habitat “among the most dedicated in the world.’’

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Chapter 3 Good works and good words were Pensacola Habitat building blocks. But so were partnerships. “We could not do without our partnerships,’’ said Betty Salter, the organization’s 21-year executive director.

Among those partnerships: • George Stone Technical Center, whose students plied a myriad of emerging construction skills to aid in the building of about 600 homes for 20 years.

• Pensacola State College, whose carpentry students provided labor.

• Pensacola Boys Base, a boot camp at Corry Station for incarcerated boys which has been sending five volunteers every Tuesday for 14 years, helping to construct some 50 homes.

• VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), the domestic arm of the Peace Corps, provided volunteers to Habitat from 1990 to 1995, and Americorps volunteers have been serving with Habitat since 1995.

• Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine and Coast Guard units, 20

regularly deploying personnel to Habitat building sites.

The benefits of Habitat partnerships often were mutual, according to many associated with those organizations, saying that without the Habitat exchanges they couldn’t have done what they do as well.

Dan Busse, principal of George Stone school: “Working with Habitat is leveraging; it keeps our costs lower – the supplies are provided by Habitat and the students get to work under licensed contractors and gain experience.’’ Those students, about 60 each year, helped install electrical and heating-and-air equipment, and crafted cabinetry and trim work.

And the students built birdhouses, too. The school’s work with Habitat, in fact, started at a 1994 Birdhouse fundraiser at Cordova Mall, Habitat’s first of several. Betty Salter, then Habitat executive, recalls how that happened: “Paul Gingrey met volunteer Bob Stoyer and said his pupils could help Habitat – and they started building houses from the foundations to the roofs. Then the next year the classes built 350 birdhouses out of scraps in their spare time for the 1995 Birdhouse sale.’’ Gingrey was retired Navy and a professional general contractor who became an instructor at George Stone. He died in 2010.

Pensacola State College (then Pensacola Junior College) during a four-year project participated in a federal grant program called Youth Build, in which the students put the curriculum into practice by working with Habitat. “It was in essence their laboratory,’’ said Sue Halfhill, the assistant dean for workforce education. She’s in hopes that a similar program can be re-established.

Oliver Jones, administrator at Pensacola Boys Base, said their work with Habitat “gives the boys a chance to broaden their experiences and enrich their personalities, to gain poise and balance and learn respect for others.’’ Participation on the job site provides two major benefits: “They are exposed to about 14 different variations of careers – roofing, smoothing concrete, cabinets. ... and a powerful mentoring, working side-by-side with strong, faithbased individuals. When you have to put that much sweat equity into these houses, you’re less likely to want to put a brick through someone’s window.’’

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Pensacola Boys Base students personify the mantra of mutual benefit in their Habitat endeavors, and few better than Ryan Barrick – who spoke at the Habitat 30th anniversary dinner in September 2011. After graduating from Boys Base in December 2011, he began attending Pensacola State College on a James and Betty Salter scholarship. Said Barrick about Habitat-building: “Love it. Awesome.

That’s why I went into construction – at PSC I’m studying heating, ventilation and air-conditioning. It’s a learning experience; it’s good stuff to know – and we build a house for the community.’’

Oliver Jones, Administrator of

Pensacola Boys Base, with Betty

Business owners too have often Salter. found that Habitat volunteering and sponsorship can benefit their company bottom line as well as the community. Or they just felt good about doing it.

Pensacola Association of Realtors recognized that their larger goal as an association – “ to provide shelter in our community‘’ – is one that Habitat shares, making Habitat a good match for member involvement, said executive director Chuck Michaels. In several years recently, PAR sponsored 12 homes and its members helped build them.

Gerald Adcox, owner of Adcox Motors, sponsored his fifth Habitat house in 2011, while serving his fourth year on the Habitat board of directors. He became chairman of the board in 2012. The organization’s benefit to the community? Said Adcox, “We bring affordable housing to those who can’t get traditional loans; for example, a cafeteria worker at an elementary school has a good job and a good base, but banks don’t usually lend to them. And we’re able to buy properties, for example, a subdivision started before the economy tanked, and we’re able to finish the subdivision and massbuild.’’

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His business’s benefit? “There’s a Community Contribution Tax Credit Program. We can get credit back on sales taxes from our donations.’’ The state-funded incentive is designed to encourage businesses to partner with agencies that provide affordable housing.

Businesses that donate 50% of the value of a Habitat home, plus 200 volunteer hours of work, are able to receive a refund on sales taxes.

Numerous businesses have donated their goods to Habitat to keep prices low. Among those donations: appliances from Whirlpool, Yale locks, Velspar paints.

Nor has Habitat itself been lacking in business moxie – as demonstrated by the opening of the Habitat ReStores, one in Pensacola in 2006 and another in Milton in 2008. The ReStores sell surplus building supplies and used home furnishings – all of which have been donated – and the receipts are used to build other homes. An environmental fringe benefit: As of January 2012, the ReStores had sold some 1,980 tons of materials that otherwise might have gone into landfills. While the Milton store was closed in late 2011, due to inadequate facilities and location, Habitat hopes to reopen in Milton.

Eight Americorps service members were volunteering at Pensacola Habitat as of early 2012. Nationally, Habitat International is Americorps’ biggest partner, with about 500 serving the various affiliates. The major benefits to enrollees are the training and experience, and the opportunity to learn about nonprofits and community programs, said Rebecca Kidd, who served two terms at Pensacola Habitat, 2007-2009, and then joined the staff as volunteer coordinator.

Pensacola is a military town, and Habitat is a showplace for positive impact.

Military personnel have made Habitat homebuilding a routine, and rewarding, part of their deployment to Pensacola. Habitat staff estimated that military volunteers contributed 9,000 hours in the year 2011.

Petty Officer 1st class Curt Metzger, while serving in Pensacola for three years with the Navy’s Blue Angels, helped build 15 houses.

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He was part of a 12-13 member Blue Angels crew that participated in a Build-a-thon to help launch Camshire Meadows, Habitat’s biggest-to-date subdivision. “We were there multiple times. Blue Angels tried every month to work on at least one project. Seeing the appreciation we got from the homeowners was really awesome.

And the sweat equity idea is a good one; it should be the same everywhere.’’

Theresa Day, command volunteer coordinator for the Naval Air Technical Training Center, said NATTC provided about 20 volunteers a week in 2011, most working on the Camshire Meadows homes.

Nathan Francis, base coordinator for Habitat at Corry Station, organized teams of 10 to 15 volunteers that included Army, Marine, and Coast Guard personnel. Participants together put in more than 700 hours between July and December of 2011 building Habitat houses. For Francis, the commitment came easy: His father was a Habitat construction supervisor in Long Beach, CA while Francis was growing up. “That’s where I got my feet wet,’’ he said.

The work was satisfying, volunteers agreed.

“When you show up, and it’s a concrete slab, and a few days later you’ve built the structure of a house, it’s pretty cool,’’ said David Larson, a first lieutenant in the Air Force. He began working with Habitat in December 2010, scheduling a group of pilot trainees at NAS Whiting’s VT-3. In the next seven months, the group counted 80 volunteers working on about 50 different houses, plus in the warehouse, altogether donating some 2,619 hours. “We have put up walls, trusses, roof decking, shingles, siding, windows and doors – even worked at the shop to build the frames from scratch..

“I enjoyed the learning experience,’’ said Larson, “as well as making a difference with my free time.’’

Matthew Cascarino, an Air Force second lieutenant going through Flight School at NAS Pensacola and Whiting Field, estimated he put in 150 hours, mostly in 2011, working on 25-30 homes alongside other commissioned officers and student pilots from Whiting. “The main thing about Habitat was service to community, 24

meeting a very fundamental need, of having a place to live. And the actual homeowner had to put in hours too, so we would get to know the person we were building it for.’’

Betty Salter is also fond of the viewpoint expressed to her some time ago by then LTJG Kristen Ulman: “She said the best part of being in the Pensacola area while she was in flight training at Whiting Field was volunteering with Pensacola Habitat for Humanity.’’

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Chapter 4 Habitat homeowners have stories to tell, about how life before Habitat brought change and happier stories afterward. A secure home of your own, they say, can make so much difference.

Those pre-Habitat stories sometimes described rats that came in through holes under the cabinets, spiders crawling around in the kitchen, electric outlets that didn’t work, rusted drains and walls that leaked water. Frequently people lived in rundown neighborhoods where it wasn’t safe for their kids to play outside.

Some lived with parents in homes that, as a result, were much too crowded. Others lived in rented houses or mobile homes, where sometimes the monthly tab was higher than the mortgage payments they subsequently paid – rent charged by landlords for a place to live that sometimes was far from adequate or wellmaintained.

Moving into a Habitat home brought change, adding both comfort for today and hopes for tomorrow, according to their stories.

“It changed my life,’’ said Tina Maloney, a single mother with three daughters, who moved into her Habitat home in April of 2010. “The older I got, renting and renting and struggling to pay my bills with the girls, I wondered where to live when I was too old to work. And 26

my girls needed a place to call home.’’

Before Habitat, she was paying $650 to $850 a month for rental housing; since Habitat, she pays $450 per month for the mortgage.

“There was no way I could ever have saved up money for a down payment on a house,’’ she said, even though she’d been employed full time for seven years, working her way up from digging ditches for a marine company to a management position.

There’s lots to like about a Habitat house, said Maloney, including her home’s location in a Habitat subdivision – “I love all my neighbors.’’ And she likes the energy-efficient windows and lights. But the most-likeable feature of all: “the fact that it’s mine.’’

James Docherty, who works for the Escambia County Sheriff ’s Office, and his wife, Kimberly, moved in mid-2011 to a A photo from the dedication of Pensacola Habitat from Humanity’s 500th home.

Habitat home in Milton, one that’s bigger and more economical than what they had before, which was a trailer in need of repairs. Their three children are Destiny, 7, Bryson, 4 and baby Christian, 7 months as this was written in January 2012. “The house is perfect for what we need,’’ said Kimberly. “I absolutely love it.’’

Among its plusses: “We have a front porch, where we can sit when it’s raining and stay dry.’’ Because their home is situated on a goodsized lot, there was room for them to do landscaping; as a result, “It’s like our little paradise in the backyard.’’

Thomas Webber and his 8-year-old son Jordan, before moving into a Habitat house in November 2011, were living in Loaves & Fishes transitional housing, limited to two years of occupancy, and before that they were living in his car – “we had some rough times,’’ he said. He was an unemployed truck driver. Since then he’s decided not to go back on the road because, as a single father, he wants to be 27

home for his son. He works at Vick’s Cleaners.

From both Loaves & Fishes and Habitat, Webber said he learned a lot and benefited much. In their budget classes, “I learned to live below our means instead of above our means. I know the mortgage and the bills have to come first. I don’t pay for TV, Internet or phone.’’ His son loves their new house and is doing well: “He attends A.K. Suter and he’s been qualified for the PATS program,’’ said his proud dad. Habitat, Webber said, “turned our life around and made things so much better for us.’’

Habitat homeownership doesn’t happen automatically or come without obligation. Would-be buyers are interviewed by Habitat volunteers or staff, who ascertain that the buyer needs the home and qualifies for a Habitat purchase. Among those qualifications: A person must have a stable income; the ability to pay a mortgage and a satisfactory credit history; must meet income guidelines; and also must volunteer 200 hours of “sweat equity.’’ Those 200 hours are divided into categories: 100 hours on building Habitat homes, 25 in workshops and 75 hours in other volunteer works.

What Habitat home buyers don’t pay is interest on what they owe.

And home insurance is included in the package.

Habitat builds homes to meet the needs of the families and has frequently made adjustments in design to make homes accessible for the handicapped. The first handicapped home was built on Albany Street in Pace in 1998 for a family with a little boy in a wheelchair, recalled Betty Salter. The second, built on Loyola Street in Pensacola for a family with a mother in a wheelchair, incorporated lower cabinets, wide doors and a roll-in shower.

About a half-dozen handicap-accessible homes are now built each year.

Since 2008, all Habitat-constructed homes are built to Energy Star standards, a national energy-conservation program requiring homes to be 25 to 30 percent more energy-efficient than ordinary homes. The homes feature special insulation, high efficiency heating and air systems, compact fluorescent lighting and Energy Star-related ceiling fans and appliances. “Most of our houses are even more energy-efficient than required,’’ said Habitat 28

construction director Rick Evans.

While the special construction features may add $3,000 to $3,500 to the average $75,000 standard on-lot building price, they enable homeowners to save around 30 percent on their monthly electric bill. “The extra they would save each month would more than offset the $3,000 per house extra cost spread over 20 years,” said Evans.

Among the 850-plus families settled in homes by Pensacola Habitat over the past 30 years, J.B. Johnson and his wife, Trudy, were among the first – buyers of house No. 3, in 1988. Before that, said Trudy, “We were raising two kids in a one-bedroom house, 16 by 32 feet, with many openings for mice and insects to come in.’’ J.B., who works for a paper mill in Brewton and has also served 15 years as a volunteer fireman, had already started building a better house for his family when he saw a TV program interviewing Millard Fuller.

He contacted Habitat.

“My house was half finished when Habitat came,’’ recalled J.B. “People thought I was crazy, saying ‘a man come and build your house?’ I knew just three things. They would come, I had to pay back $100 a month and no interest – and that’s the way God works when he wants to lead you one way.’’

Betty Salter, in her 30 years as volunteer and 21 years as executive director of Pensacola Habitat for Humanity, signed all of the deeds to the families, meaning she always had a chance to meet and welcome each one of the new homeowners. Many of those homeowners she remembers well, and she especially remembers the truly poetic things they’ve said on those occasions.

“Homeownership makes you feel like the statue of liberty, as wide as the Atlantic Ocean and as proud as an American eagle,” said Lachelle Sullivan.

Said Bonita Fox, “Habitat is not just giving families the opportunity to own their own home, but they are giving them dreams, selfworth and a commitment that tells them someone believes in them.’’

No one could have said it better.

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Chapter 5 The year 2011 was a benchmark year, a year of sterling growth and change for Pensacola Habitat for Humanity.

This hammer-swinging, home-building, life-changing organization celebrated its 30th anniversary; began construction of its largestever subdivision, the 100-unit Camshire Meadows; continued work on a 320-home, three-year project funded by a $24-million federal grant; and relocated to a larger, 22,000-square-foot renovated headquarters building. It also introduced new leadership upon the retirement of its 21-year executive director, Betty Salter, who more than any other volunteer made sure that the local Habitat’s history happened. Her husband, James, a crew leader for more than two decades, was also retiring.

In 2010, Pensacola Habitat received a $24-million grant, one of the larger awards of the seven dispensed among affiliates by Habitat for Humanity International, which was funneling the awards from the $137 million it received from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 fund, part of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act of 2009. The Pensacola grant was the local nonprofit’s largestever influx of money.

The intent of the funded homebuilding was to stabilize and 30

improve neighborhoods that had been impacted by foreclosures, abandonments and tough times. Pensacola Habitat chose its focus among eight census tracts in the western urban core of Pensacola, and two census tracts in south Santa Rosa County. Camshire Meadows, a planned west Escambia subdivision that was started as a private development project but didn’t make it because of the depressed economy, was purchased and incorporated into that 320home effort, noted Dick Baker, a developer and longtime Habitat volunteer. Baker was hired to oversee the locating and purchase of the home sites needed for the grant-build. He credits the Salters’ track record in leadership of Pensacola Habitat and its consistent Top 10 production ranking among the national Habitat’s affiliates as a major stimulus for its selection as a grant recipient. All of the grantfunded homes must be built by early 2013; as of February 2012, 225 were done and 50 more were under way.

When Tim Evans took over Habitat’s executive director post on July 1st, the starting date for the 2011-12 fiscal year, the move for him was a short hop. He’d been working across the street from Habitat’s downtown Gonzalez and Guillemard streets corner for 18 years as executive director of Manna Food Pantries and Gardens. Evans was the Habitat board’s choice following a nationwide search for a leader to succeed Betty Salter, who retired March 31, 2011, after nearly 30 years of service to the organization, first as a volunteer, then as a board member, and since 1990, as executive director – and still an unpaid volunteer.

Camshire Meadows, Pensacola Habitat’s largest subdivision.

Besides his years of experience at Manna, Evans’ resume as he took over at Habitat included degrees from Florida State University, University of West Florida and Duke University Divinity School, in majors including psychology and theology. His understanding of Habitat’s mission was apparent in an introductory message he wrote 31

for HabiChat, the Habitat newsletter, upon taking office: “What we do is build houses. But what are we doing by doing that? It’s a lot more than just the houses. For each partner family we are providing stability and security upon which families grow and thrive. In the bigger picture we are building a foundation for economic development for the community, by adding to the stock of affordable and workforce housing, which is an essential component of community capital.’’

Betty Salter, upon Tim Evans, Pensacola Habitat’s current retiring, took with her Executive Director, with Betty Salter. many reminders of how much her service to the community was appreciated. In 1993, she was recognized as the Florida “Public Citizen of the Year’’ by the National Association of Social Workers. She was awarded the Florida State Governor’s “Points of Light Award – 2000’’ in recognition of her service to others. The Pensacola News Journal presented her with its 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Women in Business. In 2009, Florida Habitat affiliates honored Betty with a lifetime achievement award, and in 2010 she was awarded the first-ever lifetime achievement award from Habitat for Humanity International. In 2010, too, Betty and her husband, James Salter, a Habitat construction team leader, were given the PACE “Spirit of Pensacola’’ award. James also had received an earlier award for his decades of construction work; in 1993, he was named “Volunteer of the Year’’ by Volunteer Pensacola.

Following her retirement, Betty was asked to continue to serve on the board of Pensacola Habitat and also remains its most popular advocate with the community as a public speaker.

Habitat’s move to new headquarters, a renovated building materials store at 300 W. Leonard St., was completed on December 5th. The move provided the additional office room, plus acres of parking 32

space, that was needed. Habitat had outgrown the once-surplus downtown property leased by the city and occupied since 2001.

“In most small offices we had three people and had converted our classroom into offices and were still crowded,’’ said Betty Salter.

And parking had overflowed onto the street and an adjacent lot.

Pensacola’s Habitat wrapped up its 30th year with performance and promise. In the 12 months ending in September 2011, Pensacola’s Habitat built and sold 103 homes, topping previous records for a similar time period, and bringing its lifetime total to over 850.

From 2007 through 2011, Carolyn Appleyard served as chairman of the board, and, according to Betty Salter, “worked like a beaver to get our policies and procedures written and our bylaws updated in line with Habitat International. As part of the ownership team at Appleyard Agency, Carolyn also was generous in volunteering staff from that agency to provide assistance with newsletters and communications.’’

Said Carolyn: “The year 2011 brought significant change and growth to our local Habitat. As we grow again in 2012, the Board of Directors remains committed to a housing ministry that provides homeownership opportunities for our neighbors and improves our community.”

As Tim Evans looked forward to 2012, he noted, “As Pensacola Habitat looks at a fourth decade of partnership in this community we know that we can only build into the future by building upon our past. Through vital relationships and collaborations we can ‘live our history’ with confidence in the strength of a foundation of 30 years, and anticipation and hope for many, many more.’’

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The next few years...

In 2012, with new and more adequate office space, with a huge federal grant stacking new totals in homes built, and with new ideas accompanying new leadership, what might this communityminded organization set out to do now?

Yes, of course: There would be more homes.

But there also would be much more. Among the additions: easier ways for folks to find Habitat to help meet their need for housing, more national recognition and national support for Habitat itself, plus new ideas to help create communities that are more than just solid roofs and sidewalls.

In recent years, Habitat’s new partnerships have resulted in additional community economic benefits, along with more attractive and happier neighborhoods – where yards are selflandscaped and kids romp on playgrounds. In addition, Habitat’s determination to find ways to meet other housing needs has resulted in home rebuilding to counteract disaster destruction, and plans for providing housing for the disabled.

So what’s the behind-the-scene news for Pensacola Habitat in the second decade of the 21st century?

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Make a list, as Habitat executive director Tim Evans compiled recently for this history segment.

• The Big Grant, $24 million received in 2010 from Habitat for Humanity International, part of the American Reinvestment & Recovery Act of 2009, which funded Pensacola Habitat construction of 373 new homes by 2013.

• Global Village, a trip made each year by 12 to 20 participants to less-developed countries including Guatemala and Nepal for a total of nine trips through 2019, and embodying the HFHI motto that everybody needs a decent place to live.

• Neighborhood Revitalization, launched in 2012, assisting homeowners in several focus neighborhoods with leadership development, planning, home repair, beautification, and safety and comfort for residents’ children.

• The annual Community Summit, in its 4th year in 2018, bringing together government, religious and housing organizations interested in community welfare and the economy.

• NeighborWorks America, a national organization which in 2015 admitted Pensacola Habitat for Humanity as a chartered member – the only Habitat local affiliate in the country which is also a member of the NeighborWorks America network of 250 community development and housing organizations – and provides professional training Pensacola Habitat became a Chartered Member and funding. of NeighborWorks America in 2015.

• Parade of Homes recognition of new housing designs by Habitat, winning Parade’s first-place award in 2016 in the price category of 35

$165,000 and below.

• Northwest Florida Community Housing Development Corp., a new, local sibling organization established by Habitat in 2014 to provide housing opportunity in situations which aren’t included in the Habitat International format.

• Food Truck Festival, a branding and fun annual event started in 2016, with public recognition as its purpose and result.

Yesterday is today.

Volunteers have always been the key to Habitat success, says Kevin Thomas, Habitat volunteer coordinator. “They are the lifeblood of our organization. We typically have over 3,000 volunteers per year.”

Volunteers work on construction sites. They gather and market resalable merchandise at the Habitat Restore, and write thank you notes to donors at the Habitat office.

They come from local military bases, UWF and high schools, area businesses and faith communities. They are Alternative Spring Breakers who come from all over the country as part of Habitat’s Collegiate Challenge Program.

They continue to be the voices of Habitat.

“When I was younger, my Mom had a Habitat house and helped build it. And I lived in it for about seven years, a perfect house,” says Draya Carter. “In my younger years I knew I wanted to help.”

Since last year, she has put in some 80 hours, working in the Restore and helping build houses.

“In one case I was able to meet the family who was getting the home, and we were able to have a conversation about what made her come to Habitat. She was able to share some of the tragedy of her life, the things she went through.

“It warmed my heart that I was able to contribute to the next chapter of her life.”

Draya Carter is 21 years old. She works at Navy Federal and is a student at UWF. 36

This is Lionel Robinson: “Like many others, I feel a need to be part of something larger than myself. Having retired from an environment focused on bottom-line profits, I needed a way to serve that would have a more positive effect on people’s lives. It has been a joy to fill that need with an organization that is totally focused on helping others.

“I knew like most people that Habitat builds houses and makes it possible for people to own homes when they otherwise would not be able to afford them. If that’s all Habitat did it would be worthwhile.”

However, says Robinson: “I’ve come to see the physical houses as tools in a larger development. As a hammer is a tool for building a wall, the house itself is a tool for building community.”

A member of the Baha’i faith, Robinson made his first build in response to a notice about a multi-faith construction project. He’s since worked on several interfaith builds, joining with people from other religious organizations in a common purpose.

“As we worked together, reaching across previous divisions, we formed relationships that demonstrated that we are all members of a larger community.”

Bob Gerold, a retired corporate trainer and public speaker, made five trips to Guatemala and one to Nepal as a volunteer with Habitat’s Global Village venture. “I have used the trips to remind myself of the privilege Americans have and what the rest of the world has to deal with. Volunteers come back with a new vision of commitment to bettering the conditions of people all over the world.”

Since 1981 Pensacola Habitat has built 1,300-plus homes, 450 of those between 2012 and 2017.

Habitat for Humanity’s tenet is that every person deserves to have the shelter and safety that a home can best provide.

Habitat homes have never been free, but are cooperative works between buyer and builder. Buyers pay mortgages, but no interest payments, and they share in their home’s construction by donating 37

hours of labor – termed “sweat equity” – with tasks selected according to their abilities.

Shalon Manuel is the voice of a soon-to-be Habitat homeowner, her application recently approved.

“I have a little girl, she’s 6, just the two of us, Amina. She’s been excited from Day 1.

She already has picked out her room.

“The square footage is bigger, the back yard is bigger – everything well worth having and not having to rent.” Manuel, a pre-K teacher for Child Care Network, estimates she will pay a $555 monthly mortgage for 994 square feet, compared to her current $660 monthly rental for 900 square feet.

Shalon Manuel and daughter,

Most important: “It’s mine – that’s the Amina. first and foremost thing I appreciate about having a Habitat home. I don’t have to rent anymore; I own and can pass down to my children. It’s a blessing – not many people have that opportunity.”

Today, Habitat benefits for homeowners also extend beyond their front doors and to their neighborhoods, part of the new Neighborhood Revitalization program.

Dorris Hill is president of the Homeowners Association in Providence Manor II, a subdivision with 77 homes, some built by Habitat. Says Hill: “Habitat is working with me on setting up the front entrance, planting shrubbery, helping residents getting their yard set up and looking pretty. They help people understand the reasons we have rules and regulations. Next we’re working to get someplace for the kids to play; Habitat helps us with getting grants.”

In the recent seven years Habitat’s new and expanded programs have added to its growth and accomplishments in a myriad of ways, according to staff members and directors.

• The Big Grant was very important, says Hal Major, who was 38

Habitat’s chief operating officer at the time it was received. “Not only did it allow us to build and sell 373 homes we otherwise would not have built, it also allowed us to scale up our operations internally to be able to better serve our community.”

The grant also enabled Habitat to add policies, procedures and staff to pursue other grants for which it previously lacked the internal infrastructure to quality.

•

Global Village has been a great addition to Habitat programs, says Skip Vogelsang, a longtime board of directors chairman.

“It communicates that Habitat for Humanity International now operates in 90 nations worldwide and allows participants to see HFHI operations in various countries.

Many return home to become more actively involved with our local HFH.”

• Neighborhood Revitalization.

Global Village volunteers in Its importance, according to Guatemala. Habitat Guatemala is a Pensacola Habitat department longtime Tithe partner of Pensacola director Peggy Fowler and as Habitat. stated by Habitat for Humanity International: “The house and neighborhood where one grows up impacts the health and longevity of one’s life; and having a safe, decent, stable affordable home and neighborhood impacts a child’s success in school.” Pensacola Habitat, says Fowler, has implemented those principles by helping neighborhoods with community development programs, working with residents to complete neighborhood enhancement and assisting with owneroccupied home repair. Focus neighborhoods are Brownsville, Cantonment, Westside Garden District, Camshire Meadows and Neighborhood Revitalization volunteers work to repaint a home.

Providence Manor II. 39

• The Community Summits have helped position Habitat for Humanity as a leader in affordable housing issues and service, says Vogelsang. Gene Franklin, president of the Florida Black Chamber and director of the National Cultural Heritage Tourism Center, emphasized, as a speaker at the 2018 Summit, that what those community meetings can do best is to convey the importance of cooperation between Pensacola’s diverse communities, and to recognize their cultural and historic importance and their need for business creation and jobs.

• NeighborWorks America. Gaining membership in this national network of community development programs was a four-year effort, says Habitat executive director Tim Evans. Membership brought with it access to professional staff training, and also funding -- $250,000 in 2018 for Pensacola Habitat, says James Ross, NeighborWorks relationship manager for the southern region of four states and panhandle Florida. Plus, admittance to membership highlighted Pensacola Habitat’s achievements.

In admitting Pensacola Habitat, says Ross, NeighborWorks found it to be “an exemplary organization, meaning the highest ranking in three categories: production, resources and financial management, and in board governance. Therefore Pensacola is eligible to receive the most funding.” And that’s important, he notes, due to the increasing affordability gap across the country.

“The house is more expensive, the wages are the same and the gap is more. The federal funds that used to be there are nonexistent.”

• The Parade of Homes award, best in the $165,000 price tag and below, was in recognition of new designs and features in Habitat Pensacola Habitat’s winning home in the homes, says Rick Evans, 2016 Parade of Homes.

Habitat construction director. “We remodel our existing homes to give buyers as many new features as we can, mostly interior upgrades such 40

as lighting, plumbing fixtures and flooring. They not only can select their home site, they get to choose their plan and options.” New home buyers coming into the program are increasing monthly, Evans reports.

• Northwest Florida Community Housing Development Corp. is a sibling organization for PHH, established to provide housing opportunity for some situations outside the usual commitments. Among those aided by the new CHDC – called CHoDO for short -- were residents of Century whose homes were destroyed or damaged by a 2016 tornado. “It was our first disaster relief build, 16 homes,” says Tim Evans, who serves as CHoDo’s chairman of the board. Habitat partnered with Escambia County in providing replacement and repairs in Century after the storm. The county had received some disaster funding from the state, limited to $40,000 per house – not enough for replacement housing, says Meredith Reeves, the county’s Neighborhood Enterprise Division manager. “Habitat reached out to us with a partnership, a housing development organization and discussed using the tax credit to accomplish replacement housing,” says Reeves.

• Also under CHoDO, a project to provide apartments for adults with disabilities is in the planning stage.

• The Food Truck Festival is a signature event for Habitat, says Crystal Scott, director of resource development – with growth suggesting its success. “The first year we had nine food trucks participate and a pretty good turnout – we felt we were on to something. In Year 2, 17 trucks and doubled the crowd size; this year 23 participating trucks and a crowd estimate of 10,000.”

The event has attracted awards and sponsorships as well as public recognition.

Reflecting on growth and the benefits it has wrought, Pensacola Habitat co-founder and longtime volunteer executive director Betty Salter notes, with satisfaction, the charitable organization’s position today: “Pensacola Habitat is one of the top seven Habitats for Humanity in the country, among 1,300-plus, in the number of houses built and managed, and I expect the largest Habitat for its 41

population size.”

Looking back, she recounts policies of early years which continue today: “I was concentrating on building houses. We’ve never sold a mortgage. By keeping the mortgages there are dollars coming in to support the building of more houses.” Some 900 area homeowners are paying Pensacola Habitat mortgages today, she estimates.

Through the years, Habitat also has provided jobs, retail sales and construction company sub-contracts, says Salter. “There are people running businesses now that got their training at Habitat.’’

While today’s new projects stem from energy and the need to expand, homebuilding is always the core value, says Salter. That was God’s purpose from the get-go, she believes – a belief often reinforced in early years when funding to build was scarce. “When we were most desperate, the mail would come, with checks.”

Today is tomorrow.

Al Coby, a retired Pensacola assistant city manager, has served on Pensacola Habitat’s board of directors for four years, in 2018 as vice chairman, and designated chairman for 2019.

“Habitat meets an unmet need. For a significant number of our customers their earnings are not sufficient to live in a home of their own, without the assistance of Habitat. Habitat provides stabilization, contributing to the economic stability of the region.”

In 2018, says Coby, the primary focus of the board of directors has been a rebranding effort, essentially defining who Habitat is, what its role in the community is, the effort its people make and what the community can do to assist. “People have to know who you are and what you do. Rebranding is also important to ensure Habitat’s financial stability.”

And next year? It will be a continuation of what has been started, says Coby, but also will feature new projects. The rental units will be under construction for the disabled and a model home will be built.

“Habitat is an organization that changes as necessary to meet the 42

needs of the community and the residents we serve.�

One thing never changes however. Yesterday, today and tomorrow, Habitat builds houses.

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