Habitat for Humanity Thanks Volunteers

At a dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 16, we celebrated the completion of the Greensboro Bar’s Habitat House No. 8 with our homeowner family, the R’mahs.  It was a joyous occasion highlighted by a moving expression of appreciation from Tona, the father, who described his family’s flight from Vietnam to escape persecution.  They escaped to a refugee camp in Cambodia and eventually found their way to Greensboro and to Habitat.  Tona struggled to find his words in English and was so overcome that he had to speak in his native tongue to fully express his feelings. We have developed an especially strong relationship with this family as we have worked on the site with them to build this house. They will now own the house and will pay back the cost to Habitat through their monthly mortgage payments.

We have previously conveyed our thanks to all of you who contributed so generously to raise the $50,000 that was required for this project.  We now need to thank all of you who contributed your time and effort to make the project a success:

Ken Keller, who gave his full support to the project, worked on the site, and contributed generously to the cost.

The following law firms who organized work crews:  Oxner Permar, Schell Bray, Nexsen Pruet and Brooks Pierce.

The Federal Court Unity Committee, led by Sarah Roane, who took on two of the workdays.

The District Court judges, led by Judge Vincent, who contributed money and a workcrew to this house, as they have on our previous Habitat projects.

The UNCG Student Veteran’s Association, led by Tyler Freeman, who partnered with us on the work site. We hope to continue our partnership together.

Justice Paul Newby, who once again gave his support to our work and who worked on the first workday.

Nancy Ferguson, who once again provided leadership for the project.

Diane Lowe, who kept us organized and on task throughout the fundraising and building effort.

And, of course, all of the many volunteers who worked on the site, some multiple times, to build a first class home and share the effort with our partner family.

Our Habitat projects have become a part of the rich tradition of the Greensboro Bar Association, now going back 25 years to our first Habitat house in 1991.  Our long-standing and on-going commitment to Habitat has made us unique among the Bar Associations in this country and is a testament to our commitment to serve the needs of low-income families in our community.

Now we need to be looking ahead to House No. 9.

Many thanks to you all,
Bill Cooke