Following the JCWP in LaGrange, Ga., Jarome and Stephanie Camp moved into a solid, affordable Habitat house with their children Bethany and Christopher.

(Leap of Faith continued)

In LaGrange, plans are under way to offer more and more people a chance for decent housing. Wolfe's vision of "re-neighboring the neighborhoods" led to the creation of Dependable, Affordable, Sustainable Housing, or D.A.S.H., a nonprofit umbrella organization certified by the 21st Century Challenge. D.A.S.H. has taken the 21st Century Challenge in creative directions, partnering during the JCWP with Twin Cedars Youth Services and Habitat volunteers to build 10 units of transitional housing in LaGrange for people with mental disabilities. One of D.A.S.H.'s key projects is the formation of the D.A.S.H. Housing Center, where community members can find credit counseling assistance, Neighborhood Housing Services, a Habitat office and affordable housing information under one roof.

As it turns out, Hillside Place--the main JCWP build site in LaGrange--is in a strategic location for meeting D.A.S.H.'s goal to transform neighborhoods. D.A.S.H. owns 19 rental properties on streets adjacent to the site and plans to rehab the houses and convert them to owner-occupied housing. Habitat affiliate plans include increasing involvement in Chambers County, Ala., where activities slowed while the affiliate concentrated on strengthening operations and pulling the JCWP together, Bradfield says.

Between Habitat, D.A.S.H. and a community full of concerned volunteers, Wolfe, Bradfield, Hendrix and the homeowners at Hillside Place say they are confident the goal of eliminating substandard housing from LaGrange--where 3,000 of the county's 11,000 housing units are substandard--can be reached.

"The people here are great," says Gerri Porter, homeowner of House No. 1 at Hillside Place. "People really care about each other, and that makes a difference."

--Rebekah Daniel is assistant editor of Habitat World.

	The Porters have transformed their lives through decent, affordable housing. Pictured from left: Rebecca, Stephanie, Carla and Gerri Porter.

New Home Answers Mother's Prayer
by Rebekah Daniel

Gerri Porter can remember every detail of the day she was selected to become a Habitat homeowner in LaGrange, Ga. It was Dec. 6, 2002, and it had been a difficult year for Porter and her three daughters, Stephanie, 20, Carla, 17, and Rebecca, 15. Exactly 12 months before, Carla had been diagnosed with lymphoma, and Porter took three months of family medical leave to care for her. The doublewide trailer they'd lived in for 14 years was about 20 miles outside of town and leaking, and although her co-workers helped with the bills, the three months with no income were stressful.

When Porter came to work that morning, she accidentally intercepted a phone call from the affiliate to her supervisor and took a message. Thinking her application for a Habitat house had been turned down, she assumed her supervisor was going to break the news gently when she asked Porter to stop by a conference room for a chat. When Porter arrived, however, she found "congratulations" balloons and smiling affiliate representatives with glad tidings.

"I just walked in and started crying," she says. "It was the most awesome day of my life. It was something I'd prayed to be able to provide for my girls. Being a single parent isn't easy. The Lord just answered my prayers."

Porter's house was built in February by women in the community and served as a media center during the week of the JCWP. Every so often, she would break away from building with other homeowners on site to show new friends her house.

The family's excitement was nearly tangible, and Rebecca, Stephanie and Carla already knew exactly how they wanted to splurge their first night after moving in. It was something they could never do when they lived in their trailer in the country: "Order pizza--and have it delivered!"