COLUMBIA − Ten days, four homes and four families’ lives transformed. Volunteers for Show-Me Central Habitat for Humanity completed the Blitz Build project Friday and dedicated the homes to thankful families.
Dozens of supporters and volunteers gathered at the Boone Prairie subdivision off of Brown School Road in north Columbia to cut the ribbon on the life-changing project.
Amanda Campbell was one of those people.
While her house wasn’t one of the four new buildings, volunteers completed the interior of her house as well as three others in the same neighborhood as part of the Blitz Build. Campbell is raising six children ages 2 to 13.
She described the area they live in now as a “little rough.”
“There’s a lot of people that go in and out of my yard,” Campbell said. “I get knocks all throughout the night, people looking for other people.”
She said she’s excited to bring her family into this community.
“The neighborhood will be good for them, and I’m glad they’ll have their own space. They’ll feel safe in a new community,” Campbell said.
In order to move into the homes, families had to help volunteers build them.
Ashley Switzer is the director of community outreach for Habitat for Humanity. She pointed out how supportive the families were of each other.
“All of the families are so excited, sharing in each others’ joy,” she said.
Switzer thanked several key sponsors, including Veterans United Foundation, who sponsored two of the new home builds.
She noted how quickly organizations stepped up to the plate to help them out.
“That’s the kind of support we’ve honestly come to expect out of Columbia,” she said emphatically in front of families and volunteers.
“Every single time I go out there and ask for something, somebody steps up. And not just steps up, but steps up with enthusiasm, and that’s what I love to see. That really melts my heart every time,” she added.
For Campbell, she got more than a house. When discussing what this means for her and her children, she said, “That way I can own a home so they’ll always have somewhere to be and somewhere to have a place. When I rent, I never got really comfortable. I never hung pictures or anything like that up. This way, I’ll have a forever home for them, so they don’t have to leave. They can be here.”