STARKVILLE — Sabrina Randle stood in her living room Wednesday with tears streaming down her cheeks.
But Randle wasn”t upset. She was shedding tears of joy.
Randle and husband Rufus Harvey, along with their three children, Kjuan, 13, Mya, 11, and Rufus Jr., 7, were about to spend the first night in their new Mississippi State University “Maroon Edition” Habitat for Humanity House. The four bedroom, two bathroom home is located at 249 Greenwood St., in the Sunset subdivision west of Starkville.
More than 700 volunteers, from Mississippi State University students and staff to family, friends and community members, have worked on the house since its groundbreaking in early August.
“I”m very blessed,” Randle said with moist eyes. “I”m very appreciative of what everybody did and all the volunteers who took time out of their lives to help out.”
Part of the deal, however, required the new homeowners to put in at least 300 hours of “sweat equity” on their new house. Harvey, Randle and a group of friends worked on the house extensively during the construction process.
Harvey was grateful not only for his friends” help, but also for the Habitat for Humanity volunteers who put in thousands of hours of work on the project.
“It was a learning experience for me with a bountiful amount of blessings,” Harvey said. “It was a chance to meet a lot of people that a lot of times you”d just pass in traffic. They actually came in and took time out of their day to help build a home and give me a better opportunity, so I appreciate that.”
The front yard is still muddy from all the recent rain, but the rest of the house is complete. The 1,250-square-foot structure cost an estimated $50,000 to construct.
Harvey and Randle are purchasing the home for the $50,000 price tag because buyers of Habitat houses don”t have to pay interest, Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Freddie Rasberry said. The family was selected through a lengthy screening process, Rasberry said, which took into account their income, home conditions and other factors, he said.
Flo Henley, president of the Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity, said she grew emotionally attached to the family throughout the screening process.
“Collecting our partner families is one of the most important things we do as Habitat board members,” Henley said. “It”s also the most difficult. As we get to know our families who are applying for Habitat homes, it”s impossible to keep our hearts out of it. We get so attached to the people that we meet as we go through the applications and review them, and then we meet with each family one-on-one. Then we go to their home and we visit their home and see where they live and the conditions and how well they take care of what they have. Our only regret is that we can”t give everybody a home.”
“We would love to help everybody that we meet because everybody that we meet has special needs and we would love to do this for every one of them,” she added. “If we had millions of dollars we could do that, because we definitely have the good volunteer base.”
The Harvey/Randle house is the 42nd built by the Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity, but it is the first partnership with Mississippi State on a “Maroon Edition.” Rasberry hopes to build “Maroon Edition” houses annually, along with the house the organization already builds each year.
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