Good Day for a Dream
In January, many Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the United States commemorate the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. through a day of community-building service

Story by Shala Carlson

Jackie Heyward has always had a vision for her rural hometown of Hollywood, S.C. She soaked up the ideas of faith and service that drive her, she says, from her parents, neighbors and family on the small-town streets of the community. Heyward returned after college to teach business and to counsel students at the very high school from which she graduated. Home has a special priority for her.

And so, through years as a community activist, city council member and now newly elected mayor of Hollywood, homebuilding has been on Heyward’s mind. She sees the need for affordable housing around her every day. “We have people who are of very low socioeconomic means, and we have people who are very well-to-do financially,” she says. “We have gated communities with homes valuing in the millions — and we have people whose homes are in disrepair. It can be extreme.”

Last January, Heyward’s homebuilding dream finally came true. Sea Island Habitat for Humanity, based on nearby Johns Island just south of Charleston, joined Hollywood citizens for a special Martin Luther King Jr. Day build, a day of service duplicated each year by many local Habitat affiliates in towns and cities across the United States.

Each year, individuals and organizations in American cities and towns of all sizes choose to honor the life of the civil rights leader by remembering the causes he championed — the eradication of racism and poverty and the ascension of equality and justice — and committing themselves in his name to a day of volunteerism that spans efforts large and small. Habitat for Humanity affiliates often join the commemoration.

“Many of the key points that Dr. King made frequent reference to — brotherhood, hope, overcoming difficulties and working together — form a strong parallel with the mission of Habitat for Humanity,” says Sea Island executive director Chuck Swenson.

“The letterhead we created for our Building on the Dream event,” he continues, “included [King’s] quote from 1967: ‘The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. … The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.’ Forty years later, that quote still rings true. When we help a family get a decent place to live and assist them with quality training in financial management, the results are almost instantaneous. Hope is evident, and the cycle is broken.”

In a few special ways, Sea Island’s MLK day celebration was a day of firsts. Sea Island Habitat has held Martin Luther King Jr.-themed workdays since 2003 but had never built a specific Martin Luther King house until last year. The affiliate had been looking at expanding into Hollywood, but had not built there before. “It’s a very small, very low-income area, primarily African-American, and it’s about 25 minutes from our office location,” says Swenson. The affiliate had identified a partner with property on which to build and was making plans to begin. “We decided we wanted to make it a special event. What better way to do it than to have it be a dedicated Martin Luther King house? We saw this as a wonderful opportunity to get initiated into this community and to encourage the community to give us support. And they did. They just absolutely did.”

Family services director Rodney Williams began assembling a committee of elected officials and political leaders, and Heyward was at the top of his list because of her deep engagement with the community. Heyward, who was serving on the Hollywood City Council at the time, became the project’s chairwoman, with affiliate staff providing support when needed. The committee met regularly at Heyward’s church to plan an auction fund raiser, to put together ways to connect with local business owners (who provided in-kind donations, sponsorships and even put buckets on their counters advertising the build and collecting contributions), and to map out a series of events held in individual homes called “Eat, Drink, Donate.” Heyward’s sister, an artist living in New York City, held one of these events, inviting friend and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actress Tamara Tunie, who was one of a handful of attendees so inspired by the presentation, they decided to travel to Hollywood to volunteer the day of the build.

After months of work and outreach, at 6 a.m. on a holiday Monday morning, about 60 people gathered in a park just around the corner from the partner family’s lot for a hot breakfast of grits and sausage. Heyward and Tunie addressed the crowd, which then proceeded to march to the build site, carrying a banner and singing old spirituals. The volunteers framed and raised the walls that day alongside Habitat home partner Gwendolyn Tyus — and then committed to returning to join her for four subsequent Saturdays to continue construction.

“I would say that it was a personal special event, personal to the community,” says Kimberly Farfone, Sea Island development and communications director. “This was an event where the community as a whole in Hollywood really felt the spirit of what Habitat is all about.”

Heyward agrees. “It brought unity into the town,” she says. “And it definitely showed that people can accomplish a great goal, working together, helping each other. The rewards were great.”

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