Habitat raises the walls on a new home

WARRENVILLE -- Sharon Jackson and her three children got the chance to watch their dream become a reality at a Habitat for Humanity wall-raising ceremony Saturday.

Jackson and her daughters Lameisha and Katrina and her son Randall gathered with representatives of the Aiken chapter of Habitat for Humanity and Thrivent Financial for Lutherans on Saturday at the work site on St. John's Place. Together with the day's work crew, they raised the last wall's framing and held it into place while the crew secured it with hammer and nails.

"I found out about Habitat for Humanity through the newspaper. Every time I'd read about a Habitat house I'd think about it, and I've got two friends who got Habitat houses," said Jackson. "Christina Lewis at Security Federal Bank really encouraged me to go through with it, so I filled out an application. I really thought I wouldn't get approved."

Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity is sponsoring the project and has encouraged local Lutheran congregations to get involved with the project in a hands-on way, according to Thrivent financial representative Gary Brewer.

"We have five Aiken and Edgefield County churches involved - Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, St. James Lutheran Church and St. Paul Lutheran Church. We're all working together to get this house built," Brewer said.

Habitat for Humanity does either a ground-breaking or a wall-raising ceremony at the beginning of a construction project, according to Richard Harmon, vice president of Aiken's Habitat for Humanity chapter.

"This is our first week with volunteers at this site. The work is going very quickly here; it's really flying," said Harmon. "We have a couple of principles we operate on. One is called Faith in Action, and another one is the Economics of Jesus, which means when we give of ourselves in love and actions, God magnifies the effects of our actions. I think, with everybody working here today, it really illustrates that point of view."

Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com.