Building a foundation of service
Young volunteer and advocate Kirby Page shares how she has pursued her passion and purpose with Habitat.
“A lot of my family is from Louisiana, from Opelousas to New Orleans,” says Kirby Page, who grew up in the nearby Texas Gulf Coast. “Post-Katrina, I remember getting in the family car and going back to that area, where I spent much of my childhood, with my mom. Instead of houses, we saw blocks and blocks of slab foundations.”
As they continued driving east, somewhere near Biloxi, Mississippi, Kirby says the scenery shifted. “With everything around them leveled, we saw rows and rows of Habitat for Humanity houses rising up.” Kirby took in the scene with wonder as her mom explained the work and mission of Habitat to her young daughter.
“Immediately, the seed was planted,” Kirby, now 25, says. “I remember turning to my mom and saying, ‘I want to be a part of that.’”
Building on education
As a teen, Kirby followed that calling into leadership positions with the Habitat campus chapters at her high school in Texas and her university in Massachusetts. In addition to recruiting volunteers, raising funds and constructing homes near those two campuses, she also traveled out of state and country to build and learn with Habitat.
“My first trip was to Trinidad and Tobago back in 2013, and, in a lot of ways, it evolved my understanding and commitment to Habitat and affordable housing,” says Kirby. In addition to hand-mixing concrete and helping families lay the groundwork for their new homes, trip participants examined the causes and effects of unstable, unsafe and unaffordable housing and how Habitat partners with families and communities to resolve them.
“The focus on education made those trips such formative experiences,” she recounts. “I came home from each of them well-versed in the importance of home and homeownership and what action items are needed to move that effort forward. It changed the game for me. They helped me become an advocate before I even knew Habitat was involved in advocacy work.”
An inclusive approach
In 2016, going into her junior year of university, Kirby’s advocacy efforts were formally recognized with her appointment as a youth representative to the advocacy committee of Habitat’s U.S. Council. Habitat for Humanity International’s board of directors established the council to serve as a planning and policy-recommending body guiding the growth of our work in the U.S.
By bringing her experience in youth engagement to the committee, Kirby helped ensure that Habitat’s local, state and federal advocacy initiatives — including the national Cost of Home campaign — would reach and mobilize housing champions of all ages and backgrounds.
“With policy, we want to make sure it scoops up everyone — especially those with marginal identities regarding age, race, class, ability. Because if we make sure everyone is included, everyone is built up,” Kirby says. “The same goes for the internal work, the advocacy work. Who are we inviting to the table?”
Addressing who decides what the policy focus should be in the first place, who drafts the language, and who is brought into policymakers’ offices to advocate for it all impact how policy, once implemented, actually affects communities, she explains. “Renewing our internal focus on equity, diversity and inclusion affects the work that we put out,” she says. “By interrogating ourselves and our organizational practices, it enables us to serve our mission better and carry out work that is responsive to and indicative of the needs of the nation and the globe.”
“A never-ending process”
Kirby’s skills and passion for advocacy and inclusive teambuilding, honed during her volunteer assignments with Habitat, have helped guide her career as an equity, diversity and inclusion manager at a nonprofit global health organization. In turn, her professional experience and insights into the fields of global health and social justice — especially as they intersect with housing — have benefited the teams and committees she has served on.
“My time with Habitat has been a back and forth journey, always building off of itself,” Kirby says. “In the future, I want to continue to mirror these lessons, gaining new ones and reflecting them in new ways. A never-ending process of learning and growing.”
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Building a foundation of service
How a young volunteer and advocate pursues passion and purpose with Habitat
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Aging in Place impact
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Accessible upgrades for aging homeowners
Through our Aging in Place program, Habitat aims to help older adults make the upgrades and repairs necessary to ensure their homes are accessible and safe to continue living in as they age. These stories exemplify our work to provide these accessible accommodations across the U.S.
Through our Aging in Place program, Habitat aims to help older adults make the upgrades and repairs necessary to ensure their homes are accessible and safe to continue living in as they age. These stories exemplify our work to provide these accessible accommodations across the U.S.
Habitat for Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta
Linda loves her home in Powder Springs, Georgia. In the decades she’s lived there, however, the circumstances of her life have shifted a bit.
When the 73-year-old started using a walker and rollator to help her get around every day, she found her home was no longer functional for her mobility aids. Her bathroom door was too narrow for her to access, and she also found herself dealing with multiple leaks and plumbing issues.
Overwhelmed at the idea of tackling necessary updates on her own, Linda was delighted to partner with Habitat NW Metro Atlanta. The affiliate identified ways to update Linda’s home and made the improvements with the help of an Atlanta Regional Commission grant. Habitat helped make her bathroom mobility-friendly, with a walk-in shower and new floor. Linda’s home also received new plumbing throughout. “This was an answer to my prayer requests from Almighty God,” Linda says.
The upgrades will allow Linda to age safely in the home and community she loves. “The upgrades and much-needed repairs will enable me to stay in my home until I die,” she says. “I am very happy with Habitat for Humanity.”
Columbus Area Habitat for Humanity
Alfred is an avid cook who loves to entertain friends and family in his home. But radiation therapy has left the 77-year-old so fatigued that he has trouble getting around his house on his own. Determined to heal from his medical treatments in the security of his own home, Alfred needed adjustments to make the house safe and accessible.
After partnering with Columbus Area Habitat for Humanity, Alfred now has sturdy new railings to help him get inside his house safely, as well as grab bars in the shower, a taller toilet and user-friendly faucet handles. He’s especially excited about the no-trip, smooth-surface flooring in his dining room, which allows him to safely serve family and friends home-cooked meals. “It’s 100% better,” says Alfred, who shares that his well-being has improved tremendously since these much-needed updates.
Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County
At age 70, Linda hasn’t slowed down. The resident of Florida’s Palm Beach County supplements her social security income by selling homemade baked goods and babysitting her great granddaughter. However, she sustained serious injuries in an equestrian accident including the loss of an eye, and needed changes in her home to accommodate her needs during recovery and into the future.
Habitat for Humanity of Palm Beach County was able to help Linda make critical updates, including a low-lip, step-in shower, reinforced flooring and modified faucet handles. These improvements have helped Linda’s healing process and her desire to safely remain in her home for the rest of her life.
Linda says she is “crying happy” at the results and loves to share her story of partnering with Habitat with anyone willing to listen. Up next on the active septuagenarian’s list: volunteering in Habitat Palm Beach County’s ReStore or office.
Aging populations
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Accessible upgrades for aging homeowners
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