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Habitat Press 2.0 | Vol. 31
November 15, 2021
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Introducing our 106th Partner Family! |
On Tuesday, we had the privilege of surprising the Crawford Family with the news that they had been chosen as the recipient of our 106th home, sponsored by our Interfaith Build partners.
Levatta Crawford is the single mother of 5 children: niece Katlyn (16) who has been in her care since she was 12 weeks old; daughters Ciara (14), Kaliah (12), and Kirsten (11); and son Keenen (8). She is recently divorced and receives no child support; she works two jobs and is the sole provider for her family. After all she has been through, Levatta continues to have a strong, positive attitude, and, after applying two times, never lost faith in one day owning her own Habitat home.
In December 2015, Levatta's oldest son, Adam, age 25, was at a party with her ex-husband's side of the family when a fight broke out, and he was shot and killed. He would have turned 31 last month. With the sudden loss of her son, and the loss of her nephew in a similarly tragic manner just 8 months prior, Levatta says she was woken up. She realized she wanted the best in the world for her kids and things needed to change.
When Levatta and her ex-husband separated in the years following Adam's death, she and the five kids needed a place to go, so they rented a small 900 sqft. 2-bedroom home. Her ex-husband had been in poor health and wasn't able to work, so Levatta was used to working full-time to take care of the kids. She likes to work and frankly realized she had to work in order to afford to give her kids the best life she could, so she started working a part-time job in addition to her full-time job. Her resilience and love for her children in the face of immense hardship and trauma is inspiring.
The Crawfords currently rent an overcrowded, 1200 sqft. 3-bedroom apartment, where the 8-year-old son sleeps on the sofa in the living room. She is grateful to be in a better place in life, but their apartment rent is steep and rose again in August 2021 when their lease renewed. Levatta is excited that through Habitat her children will get to live in a stable, safe, and affordable environment that gives them the feeling that this is their home that they can be proud of, and that her young son will finally have his own bedroom.
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Painting away on our 105th home |
The list of things to do when building a Habitat home is incredibly long, but our volunteers get it all done quickly, efficiently, and with big smiles on their faces, knowing their efforts are changing an amazing family's life!
Thanks to some awesome volunteers on Saturday, November 6, there are two coats of paint on the house and shed, all electrical wiring is installed in the house, RAM board is installed on inside floor, both porch ceilings are installed, and so much more!
Just 5 weeks ago, there was only a concrete slab on our McKinney Street property. Now, there's a beautiful painted house! Thanks to our Build Committee volunteers for putting in COUNTLESS hours on this home, making sure it meets inspection and is of the highest possible quality. They truly enjoy getting to serve alongside the Sosa Family, and we could not fulfill our mission without them!
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This newsletter's Service Spotlight is Gillean Brothers Roofing, LLC. We have been blessed to partner with them on many of our homes for several years now. Most recently, Gillean Brothers Roofing has donated the labor and materials for the roof on our 105th home for the Sosa Family. In the last several weeks, their team has worked diligently on this roof, and their strong commitment to serving their community is inspiring and encouraging. With amazing partners like this, we are able to continue building high-quality, energy-efficient homes for our Partner Families. Thank you, Gillean Brothers Roofing, LLC!
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Thank you to our October Food Sponsors |
Each Saturday, our volunteers work all day long serving on our homes. We love to show our appreciation for their service through a midday meal! Special thanks to these Denton restaurants for donating lunches, coffee, and more for our volunteers last month: Chick-fil-A, McAlister's Deli, Starbucks, Fuzzy's Taco Shop, and Torchy's Tacos.
Also, special thanks and shoutout to Ms. Linda and Mr. Scott for volunteering their time to help coordinate these Saturday meals!
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106th Home Groundbreaking postponed |
We are almost ready to begin building the Crawford Family's home. We are awaiting a tree survey for the property of our 106th home. This is the final holdup on receiving our permit from the City of Denton. Once we have this permit, we will be able to more accurately determine the build schedule and get started building the home. Thank you for your patience and support of this project and this family. It is thanks to you all that we will be able to give this family a foundation for a better future!
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We are excited to join the Greater Denton/Wise County Association of Realtors in their Toys for Tots drive this year! You can participate by bringing new, unwrapped toys that will support the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program. This local program distributes the toys as Christmas gifts to needy children within our community.
We have a toy drop-off station at the ReStore, or you can drop off directly at the GDWCAR office. Drop-off started November 1 and goes through December 10. Thank you for your support of this wonderful program!
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Learn how your vehicle donations help fund our mission to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.
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Are you a federal employee? You can give to Habitat for Humanity of Denton County through the 2021 Combined Federal Campaign. Donate today at GiveCFC.org using our 5-digit CFC code #34623. |
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