Habitat luncheon honors donors
By Brandon Davis
Published in News on November 5, 2016 10:17 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/BRANDON DAVIS
Executive director of the Habitat of Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne Matthew Whittle, right, presents a plaque of appreciation at the First Presbyterian Church to volunteer Jim Pelech who completed 288 hours while building a home.
Full Size
News-Argus/BRANDON DAVIS
Damaris Soto stared at a ceiling air vent of her new home.
She couldn't believe the construction company didn't install it in the floor, but she was thankful the Habitat for Humanity for Goldsboro-Wayne built it that way.
Habitat returned the thanks to the Soto family Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church and honored the volunteer of the year for the annual Volunteer and Donor Luncheon.
Mrs. Soto and her husband Eddie Soto and their son Jr., 2, stood before 60 volunteers, local business owners, Habitat for Humanity board of directors and event sponsors to tell their story.
She said she and her husband lived in a double wide trailer in Dudley, and she said rust from the pipes tainted the water. She said there was no central heat as well.
After wrapping themselves in numerous blankets, they qualified for a new home through the Habitat in 2011, but stress from employment and college left her to opt out of the program. She said it is rare for someone to opt out and be able to reapply, but the Sotos completed a new application early 2015.
The Sotos qualified again and worked 300 sweat-equity hours along with Habitat construction workers and volunteers to build their new four-room, two-bath home in Goldsboro.
"We actually wanted an air vent to be on the ceiling due to Jr. being asthmatic," she said. "Due to the circumstance with all the ice and rain, they ended having to put the air on the ceiling."
She said a floor vent would have blown air and dust in her son's face, but she said Jr. and her daughters Zoey, 5, and Zofia, 3, are safer in the new home.
Matthew Whittle, executive director for the local Habitat, said the organization helped six families -- including the Sotos -- during 2015 and 2016. "It is a serious thing, especially for at the time a very young couple, to realize they need to step back and see, 'This is a good opportunity, but we're not ready to take advantage of this opportunity,' is impressive," Whittle said.
Whittle thanked volunteers and presented a plaque for the volunteer of the year, Jim Pelech. Whittle said Pelech completed 288 hours in building a home.
He then asked everyone to exit the church to view Theresa Parker burn her mortgage. Mrs. Parker threw the mortgage in a small pale and set it on fire. She closed on her house she helped build with the Habitat in 2004, and she recently paid it off.
Whittle said the organization is a construction company, but he said it goes beyond building homes. He said it's about the families, volunteers and the local economy. Whittle said money spent on supplies has accounted for seven jobs over the past year.
"It's a chance to say thank you to them," Whittle said. "It's a chance to get everybody who's really a part of the Habitat of Humanity family."