Building a new life with help from friends
As Michael built his Minnesota home with North St. Louis County Habitat, he could see all of the volunteers working alongside him. So many people played a part in his dream of homeownership.
There was one group that held special meaning: a group of active and retired members of law enforcement. “That was really nice to see all the cops,” says Michael, who used to be a deputy sheriff himself until he had to give up his job following a stroke.
After 18 days in the hospital, Michael worked hard to recover. And then he worked hard to put in his sweat equity hours so he could move out of a cramped apartment and into a new Habitat house. He worked alongside volunteers like Tom Krause, a longtime Habitat volunteer and a retired police officer.
“It’s great to build and give back,” Tom says. Getting to help a former deputy made volunteering with Habitat all that much better. Michael was right there “working alongside everybody” on the build site, Tom says. The best part of volunteering is seeing homeowners like Michael move into their house. “To see success is a great thing,” Tom says
Michael’s success comes with more room. In his old apartment, he could barely fit in the bathroom. The cramped spaces were a source of stress. Michael’s new house, which is on one level, has fewer stairs for him to face each day.
It’s also better for his 13-year-old dog and companion, Coffee Cream, who also struggled to navigate the apartment. “There were a couple of days where he couldn’t make it down all the steps, so I had to carry him,” Michael says. “He can just go right outside and come back in.”
Michael’s house has a great yard, and he knows just what it needs. “I’m going to build my garden,” Michael says. He’s planning on planting tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, basil and rosemary to start. And he’ll just go from there. The home “makes me so much happier,” he says.
“There are so many people who worked for me to be something, to get something,” Michael says. And now that he is in his home, Michael plans to volunteer with Habitat. “I just love Habitat,” he says, “so I will do more.”