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Jim Sutton
Habitat for Humanity volunteer Jim Sutton started getting his financial house in order more than 40 years ago as a young husband enlisted in the Navy. To manage expenses, he and his wife tracked every penny they spent for two years, developing discipline and a solid budget along the way. Little did he know then how useful that experience would prove for the Habitat homeowners he currently works with in Huntsville, Ala.
A PAL (partner/advocate/liaison) with Habitat of Madison County, Jim also helps with the affiliate’s financial education program. The two volunteer opportunities overlap in his role as mentor to Habitat families approaching homeownership.
“Fi$cal Therapy and the PAL program sometimes require you to give them a call and say, ‘You’re getting behind on your hours,’” Jim says. “And sometimes you call and say, ‘You’re doing a great job. Let’s keep going and get this home built.’ It’s a telephone call from a friend.”
Making friends with his homeowner families is one of the reasons Jim has been volunteering with Habitat through his church group for almost 10 years, he says. When introducing the family on the build site or overhearing children share excitedly about their bedrooms at house dedications, the “warm fuzzy” of seeing families realize their dreams energizes Jim and his fellow family support committee members.
“It warms our hearts to see someone who’s received a hand up extend a hand to someone else, someone they don’t even know or someone of a different race,” he says.