FAMILY FOCUS

Habitat is all about families. Our enthusiasm, our energy and our devotion is drawn from the knowledge that we are helping a family find a home. Here's a story we think you will enjoy.

A Room of One's Own

Quietly, but with the confidence of a well-reared child, one of our Habitat for Humanity daughters approached me with a request to read a poem that she had written, to a group of volunteers. She wanted to "thank" them for her house. More specifically, she wanted to show her appreciation for what meant most – her own room.

Formerly, the girl, her mother and sister had been sharing a single room. Theirs wasn't the saddest of Habitat stories but it was poignant. The little family always made the very best of every situation. Our budding author had the good fortune to have a mom who loved and understood her and a sister in whom she could confide. The circumstances of their past had forged an unbreakable bond between them. Yet, her creative heart yearned for and now had received a sanctuary -- a place to think her own thoughts and dream her own dreams. As any budding Virginia Woolf knows, a room of one's own is essential to becoming a writer. She knew it and was grateful.

She was twelve at the time, on the cusp of becoming a young woman. She read with the strength of purpose that innocence assures. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. The assembled volunteers had contributed countless hours toward the completion of the little room in the house of abundant love. Incalculable hours had been donated by the Family Committee members as they selected and supported the designated family through the process of home ownership. Rain or shine, in the blistering heat of summer or the bone-chilling cold of Chicago winter, our on-site workers toiled week-after-week to create a home worthy of this intrepid family. It took month for us to finish this child's home. It took just a few minutes for her to make a room in each of our hearts.

There are desperate Habitat stories – children living in rat and roach infested homes. There have been children who have been so sick from sleeping in a basement on a wet mattress that they have almost lost their lives. There are stories of drama and need so devastating that you just know that something has to be done.

However, when being a Habitat volunteer gets to be a bit overwhelming – not enough money, not enough volunteers – this is the story that sustains me. This alone is enough. In fact, it's more than enough. It is everything that has resonance in the world.

Contributed by an anonymous Habitat for Humanity Chicago South Suburbs volunteer.