“We are truly grateful for Habitat for Humanity and pray they continue with the help of the Lord to make it possible for others like me to own their own homes instead of renting. ”
-- Salena Cook

My name is Salena Cook. I am the mother of six children, three biological—Dwayne, 37; Takela, 33; and D-Chansula, 31; and three adopted—LaKisha, 15; Briana, 5, and KaDarius, 19 months.

I work at Hunter Street Elementary School as a paraprofessional in the TMD special needs class. I am the director of the children’s choir, and I do the children’s ministry at my church, Jerusalem Baptist Church in Clover. I also sing in the Clover Community Choir. Singing and helping others in their time of need are two of my favorite things to do.

LaKisha’s hobbies include dancing with the I.B.C. praise dancers and the Dove’s praise dancers and running track. Briana’s hobbies are watching TV, singing with the children’s choir, any kind of dancing, playing with her toys, trying to read, and being read to. Darius loves playing, spending time with Auntie Mia and Jazmine, and watching football and basketball on TV.

I would like to give thanks to my Lord and Savior for blessing me to be able to own my own home and to Habitat for Humanity for choosing me to be the next Habitat homeowner in Clover; a special thanks to them for all the time and energy they put in to prepare me for it. We are truly grateful for Habitat for Humanity and pray they continue with the help of the Lord to make it possible for others like me to own their own homes instead of renting.

“I thank God every day for allowing Habitat to help me become the owner of a decent, safe, and affordable home.”
-- Harriet Wherry

I’m a 27-year-old single mother of one. I’ve been employed by Walgreens for 3½ years as the Senior Beauty Advisor. I’ve been enrolled in cosmetology school since May 2005 and will graduate in April 2006.

My son Mark is 6 years old and is in the K-5 program at the Child Development Center of Mt. Gallant. He enjoys reading, playing basketball, riding his bike, and spending the weekends with his cousins.

Currently we live with my mother in her one-bedroom apartment. Space is very limited; we sleep on an air mattress or the fold-out sofa in the living room. Sometimes we’ll spend nights at a friend’s house for weeks at a time because of the lack of space. The area we live in is unsafe because it is off a busy by-pass. There is a night club and liquor store right beside us. There have been numerous fights, stabbings, and shootings there.

I thank God every day for allowing Habitat to help me become a homeowner of a decent, safe, and affordable home.

“We’ve Been Blessed with a Habitat House”
-- Shenita Williams

I am a 29 year-old single (divorced) parent of two wonderful children. I recently completed my education at York Technical College and now work as a Medical Office Assistant. Before we moved into our Habitat home, we lived in the Glens Apartments in Rock Hill. We lived there for about five years. The condition of my apartments wasn’t great, but it’s where we called home.

There were a lot of repairs needed. We couldn’t use the bottom of any cabinets because of the mildew from the leaking pipes. All of the windows had mildew around them too. Walls were pulling apart and cracked in some corners. There were times I couldn’t use either one of my toilets because of plumbing problems. My kitchen sink has been broken. Even though I’d call the manager several times, the problems were never fixed.

There were three things that made my neighborhood unsafe: drugs, drug dealers, and drug users. It was hard to let my children out to play much because of all the drug activities. I always had to worry about what was going on outside. In the summer, they were only allowed to go out when I was with them. During the winter, they were allowed to go out without me because there weren’t drug dealers hanging around in the cold.

On Becoming a Habitat Homeowner

Owning my Habitat house gives me the greatest joy I’ve felt in a long time. This house means a lot to me. When I got divorced, I thought that I would never own a house by myself. Life got harder due to our situation. Now I see our life at a wonderful point. We now have something to call ours. “This is our home!” sounds great to me. No more renting!

We will have a yard to play in and to cook on the grill. My children never wanted to invite friends over in our apartment, but now they can have friends over.