Habitat's 26th Home Recipient
Originally from Harpers’ Ferry, West Virginia, Tracy has lived in Orange County for five years. She says that she prayed for those five years for the opportunity to give her son, five year old Josiah, a safe place in the country to play. She has often worked two jobs to provide for her son. Living in a dark, forty year old trailer, she in unable to cook, do laundry or have a space of her own. “It is depressing,” she says. Habitat has helped her to do something that she was desperately trying to do: get a place of her own to come home to. She sought assistance from Ruth Bramlett of Skyline Community Action. After many determined visits and phone calls by Tracy, Ruth got the call that set things in motion. A foreclosed home, ready to be refurbished, had been purchased by Habitat. Ruth thought immediately of Tracy. When the Habitat Family Selection Committee came to Tracy’s door with the news, her reaction was, “What! Are you serious?” Tracy was extremely fortunate that things fell into place so quickly. She met all the qualifications required. Since Habitat for Humanity projects are “A Hand, Up Not a Hand Out,” Tracy, as a prospective homeowner, must have the required down payment, sufficient income, for mortgage payments, taxes & insurance and the willingness and ability to put in 150 Sweat Equity hours. When asked what she is most looking forward to, she sits back, sighs and smiles widely. “Birthday parties and sleepovers for my son. Holidays will be wonderful. Baking cookies in my kitchen and watching the snow fall in the trees.” She continues,” I thought, how will I ever afford a normal life for my child? Never in a million years did I think it would happen. God is good.” more |
The words “persistent” and “enthusiastic” only begin to describe Tracy Fields. She and her son are the newest partner family for an Orange County Habitat for Humanity home. Twenty five other families have preceded her. Her smile flashes 100 watts when asked about her journey to home ownership. ..
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The Beasley Family Makes OCHFH's 24th Home
The Beasley family (pictured with children Kevin, Keanna, & Anthony Jr.) at the dedicatioin of their new home. After putting down their down payment they put in hundreds of hours of sweat equity helping volunteers build the house. 
This was the 24th house built by Orange County (formerly Rapidan) Habitat for Humanity…built in cooperation with partner families and with community support like yours. The Orange Rotary Club has donated funds for the well. Many other individuals in Orange County contributed the needed funds to purchace supplies. Everyone expresses a special thanks to Bill Nowers (shown to the right), OCHFH's Building Chairman, who spent many long days working from the time the footers were dug through the last inspection. ( more pictures of those helped make the Beasley's home a reality.) |
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Ornage Habitat Homeowner # 21Victoria E. Breeding & son Kane have partnered with OCHFH to become homeowners during the nationwide Home Builders Blitz completed last June. Vickie works as a Sales and Service Specialist at Plow & Hearth and always dreamed of owning a home that will provide a better place to raise a family. Until her Habitat house was completed, Breeding lived in housing that was too expensive and too small where rent equaled more than 60% of her monthly income. In partnering with OCHFH, Vickie & her family have volunteered more than 300 sweat equity hours by helping with the fundraising for the golf tournament at Lake of the Woods and with the various aspects of the Builder’s Blitz. She is now paying less in mortgage, taxes & insurance for her house than she was paying for her rental place. Vickie’s home has tan siding, 1240 sq. ft. of space & a few modifications to accommodate Kane’s wheelchair. Kane will be going to Locust Grove Elementary School only 10 minutes away from their new home. They are also not too far from Orange & Fredericksburg Vickie says she is very happy that she & Kane will be able to have a home of their own. Kane will be able to have his own swing and a huge yard to play in.
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After the presentations, the packed house spilled outside into the warm afternoon. Children played in the yard, and everywhere, family and friends talked and laughed. It was a great day for a house dedication. Henry Middlebrook was a valuable worker in getting two houses built, the Bernard house and his own. Henry found a mason to do the foundations and successfully enlisted family and friends to work as a major part of the building crew this summer along with a number of other dedicated volunteers. A special thanks is due the Lake of the Woods AARP for supplying needed and skilled volunteers. |
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MEET THE FERGUSON FAMILY
Sometimes life is hard. Jobs don’t work out. Kids get sick. There’s not enough money to find a decent place to live. So you rent what you can afford. For Wade & Darlene Ferguson, that place was an old 1850’s farmhouse, with gaps in the wall where you could see daylight, with plumbing that barely worked and then quit altogether, with wood heat that needed to be fed every two hours. When it turned out that one of the children was having allergic reactions to the insulation that was in the house, the family moved to a 1 BR basement apartment. For a family of 3 children & 2 adults, this was more than a little overcrowded. The two teenagers had to sleep in the living room while the youngest shared a room with his parents. Hope came to this family in the person of Marlene Dominick, who chaired the Family Selection Committee for Rapidan Habitat for Humanity. Marlene brought gallons and gallons of water when the well went out; she encouraged Wade & Darlene and kept their hopes alive while they struggled to get by.
Now the Ferguson family has a new Habitat house to call home. Simon, their oldest child, is away at school. Stephen has graduated from school and begins a new job this week. And Jonathan, the youngest, is thrilled to have a room of his own. When Wade & Darlene were working on their house, Jonathan would take his toy cars and go to “his room”, even when his room was only a stud wall & a sub floor, to play.
Wade says Habitat has been a blessing to his family, and he is intent on sharing that same blessing with others. His life has been changed, and Wade wants to make sure Habitat stays alive and active in this community. Since completing the work on his Habitat house, Wade has joined the Board of Directors for Rapidan Habitat and is working on ways to keep partner families involved with each other and with Habitat. Even now, the volunteers who work and build with Habitat for Humanity amaze Wade. The Building Committee who worked side by side with Wade and other families at Tatum Villa are God-sent, giving out of the goodness of their hearts, dedicated to their work. Wade wants to continue to be a part of that, sowing seeds of blessings for other families. We welcome Wade & Darlene Ferguson and their children as on-going partners with Rapidan Habitat for Humanity! |
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Meet Lanoka Washington –
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Meet the Coppage Family Their journey began in 2003 when their lives began spinning out of control. They were renting a trailer that was unsafe due to high levels of carbon monoxide; unfortunately, they didn’t have enough money to afford other housing. One day their son, Noah, who was attending Head Start, brought home a little pamphlet that talked about the services and programs that are available in Orange County. The pamphlet included information about the Rapidan Habitat for Humanity. So, Clayton called immediately, shared his story, and requested an application. Then they waited for verification that their application was accepted. In the meantime, they had to leave the trailer and began several months of homelessness; first, staying with friends, then a sibling and finally Clayton’s parents. Each move was difficult because they had no control over their environment; they were guests and their sons were confused and upset. They frequently asked, broke their hearts to hear their son feel like he had done something wrong; they felt like they had failed as parents. In faith, they would tell the boys that they were going to have a house soon.
They rejoiced when they received confirmation in February that they were accepted as a partner family; the bad news was that Rapidan Habitat wouldn’t even begin building their house until June 2004. As they continued moving around, there was constant pressure to try to help their sons adjust to each new situation. They didn’t even have their toys, and could only play when the children they were staying with wanted to share. The pressures naturally led to family problems because they were always trying to make sure they were up early and ready to go so they wouldn’t disturb anyone especially because they were in very small houses that were already overcrowded. In June, Rapidan Habitat broke ground on the Coppage home. During construction, they made frequent visits to check on the progress on their house and to complete their “sweat equity” commitment. Their sons loved seeing the house and their rooms. The house was real and gave them “hope” that their life as a homeless family would come to an end.
They are very grateful for a permanent roof over their heads and a safe place to raise the sons. Anna said, “we almost didn’t send Noah to Head Start, but praise God for the day I opened that little pamphlet from Head Start; I don’t know what we would have done without Habitat.” We pray that Anna, Clayton and their sons, Noah and Christian, will be blessed in their new home for many years. |
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Four Families To Inhabit Tatum Villa!
July 2004 - The four selected families were all present for the groundbreaking and have been busy putting in their sweat equity hours. Tatum Villa is a $240,000 building project and is the largest project ever undertaken by RHH. The four homes are located on large wooded lots and are ideal for young families. Each home will have it's own water well and sewerage system. The families are:
It'll be great to have so many children in this neighborhood. All Habitat partner families must meet 3 guidelines. First, they must have a need for better housing that cannot be met another way. Second, they must have sufficient income to repay a 0% interest mortgage. And third, they must be willing to partner with Habitat. After all, Habitat is a hand up, not a hand out, and one of Habitat's goals is to build community, not just houses. |
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Anthony (called Mike) and Gissela (called GiGi) Beasley have been partners with Orange County Habitat for Humanity since 2006. They and their three children waited a long, long time for the opportunity to own a home of their own…one that is warm and dry, one that has enough space for their family, and one that they can afford. The children now have a yard where they can play.
Middlebrook
Home Dedicated – On November 13, 2005, family, friends,
and Habitat partners gathered together on this beautiful autumn
afternoon to dedicate the newest Habitat for Humanity house in
Orange County. The new owners are Henry and Melinda Middlebrook
and their children. The house was packed with people, and the
table full of wonderful food, all prepared by Melinda and her
family with loving hands and generous spirits. Rev. Elizabeth
McCrary of Orange Presbyterian Church offered our thanks to God
in this endeavor, and presented the Middlebrook’s with
a family Bible. Ann Leahy gave a lovely cross-stitched “Welcome” to
the family on behalf of the 
Charlottesville
Chapter of Monticello NeedleArts. Dwain Cox, Executive Director
of Rapidan Habitat for Humanity gave the traditional basket from
Habitat to the newest partner family. 
Lanoka & her 2 sons are recent partners with Rapidan Habitat
for Humanity. After having put in hours and hours of sweat equity,
saved up for a down payment and closing costs, and shown lots of
patience, grit, and determination, Lanoka and her family will soon
be moving into their new Habitat house. 
Anna and Clayton Coppage and their two sons, Noah and Christian,
moved into Tatum Villa on Saturday, September 4 th. They are very
excited for this new beginning for their family. 
