News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Putnam County Habitat For Humanity encouraged potential donors to give and leave a living legacy during Tuesday’s Dreambuilders Lunch.
A new home currently being built for Kailey Dailey and her three children. Dailey had one message for potential donors.
“You won’t regret it,” Dailey said. “I’m dedicated and with the classes that they’ve made us take, it’s taught me to manage money better. It’s taught me how to build things. I’ve never built anything in my life before. This means more than I could ever write on a piece of paper.”
Habitat volunteers and donors joined together at the Leslie Town Center Tuesday for the annual luncheon. Tennessee Tech football players volunteered time to serve lunch. The luncheon also a chance to hear how Habitat changes lives in Putnam and Overton County.
Habitat homeowner Christy Geesling said her new Habitat home opened a new avenue for her family.
“At that point in my life, I didn’t see a light at the end of a tunnel,” Geesling said. “It gave me that light that I’d been looking for. Most important, it did give me a home, an affordable home, that I was able to call mine.”
Geesling said the boost her family received from working for a Habitat home gave her skills to start her own business three years ago.
Habitat Executive Director Pam Ealey said as important as affordable housing, the skills that homeowners take away.
“We take a chance and give a family an opportunity,” Ealey said. “Our families they’re not going to get a mortgage from your traditional banker. They’re not going to take a risk on them, but we do.”
Classes on finances, building, and conflict resolution among those required from Habitat homeowner.
Ealey said many believe Habitat gives away homes, but that’s not the case. “They have a mortgage like most of us in this room,” Ealey said.
Putnam County Habitat for Humanity will dedicate its 10th Cooking on the Square home next week. That home the sixth home in the West End Project, located just off Spring Street in Cookeville. A seventh home in that redevelopment has begun. 15 lots stand ready for new home construction.
