Waters: Habitat dedicates homes Carters helped build

The Montgomery family moved into their new home in the city's newest neighborhood this week.

They're still unpacking and sorting and waiting.

Waiting for new furniture. They gave their old stuff to their church.

Waiting for new sod. The homebuilders got ahead of the landscapers.

Waiting for Josiah, their almost 3-year-old, to settle down a bit.

"He just runs from room to room; he's so excited," said his father, Marandow Montgomery, who helped to build the house. "He's never had this much room."

The Montgomerys officially were given the keys to their four-bedroom, 1,300-square-foot house in a dedication ceremony Saturday afternoon.

They were joined by 20 other families who will be living in new Habitat for Humanity homes on the site of an old, run-down, crime-ridden apartment complex in Uptown.

The new subdivision is the product of the 2016 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project for Habitat.

The former president and first lady came to Memphis in August. They worked all week alongside 1,500 other volunteers on lots donated by Hope Presbyterian Church's Oasis of Hope.

"I wish we had 121," Dwayne Spencer, Memphis Habitat president and CEO, told donors, volunteers, staff members and new homeowners who assembled. "The need really is that great."

Habitat's new subdivision lines Unity Lane, a new street that runs between Third and Seventh, north of Chelsea.

The Montgomerys moved into one of seven houses built along Justice Alley.

Erica Lauderdale, a single mom with three kids, moved in first about two weeks ago. She lives a few doors down. Next to her will be Damonic Davis, a church organist with two kids.

Davis hosted a Halloween block party last week. That likely will be the first of many. Nearly all of the 21 families moving into the neighborhood have children.

The Babakarkhils, just across from the Montgomerys, have five children. They're from Afghanistan. Abdul, a factory worker, worked hard over there to earn passage to America and a new life for his family.

Griz will help build homes with Habitat for Humanity

On the other side of the Montgomerys will be Halima Aden and Ahmed Salamin and their six children. They are from Somalia. Catholic Charities brought them to Memphis a dozen years ago.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell were among the volunteers who worked on the Somali family's new home.

"I apologize for the closets," Strickland said at Saturday's dedication. "If the doors don't quite fit, it's my fault."

A family from Morocco lives behind the Salamins. Driss McHich, a forklift driver, will live on Peaceful Alley with his wife and children.

Next door to the Montgomerys will be Elnora Pickens and her high-school-age son. She's an administrative assistant and also a grandmother.

"We dedicate these homes," the crowd said in unison at the dedication. "As symbols of cooperative good will, work and sharing. ... As places where the families may grow, play and learn."

The new homes aren't free. The Montgomerys and other families had to qualify for 30-year mortgages.

Mortgage payments don't exceed 30 percent of the new owner's gross monthly income. Payments include regular property taxes and insurance.

Monthly payments are more affordable because the lots and many of the homebuilding materials were donated; most of the work is done by volunteers; and homes are financed with zero-interest loans.

"What the poor need is not charity but capital, not case workers but co-workers," Clarence Jordan, the founder of Koinonia Farm, where Habitat for Humanity began, wrote in a 1968 letter.

The homeowners also had to invest 350 hours of "sweat equity" into their new homes. That includes 150 hours of training on owning and maintaining a home.

Habitat officials expect all 21 homes to close by Dec. 1. They hope to have all 21 families in their new homes by Christmas.

Christmas came early for the Montgomerys.

"This whole experience has been such a gift," said Marandow Montgomery, who was was an addict and drug dealer before he found God and his future wife at Community Bible Church.

He and Amanda, the preacher's daughter, were married four years ago. He works full time as a restaurant manager, part time for the church.

Amanda works part-time, not to mention full time as the mother of two — Josiah, who will turn 3 in a few days, and Nehemiah, who was born in June.

"I'm so thankful we're finally here and that people are finally moving in," she said. "It's nice to have people here in the neighborhood at night."

The new subdivision doesn't have a name. Some suggested calling it Mr. and Mrs. Carter's Neighborhood, or Carterville.

Marandow Montgomery says new residents have another idea.

"We're beginning to call it New Life," he said. "God opened a door through Habitat and gave us all a new life."