Before You Volunteer: Please scroll down to learn more about what to expect when you volunteer with Habitat. Please also know that Habitat will monitor local and federal health and safety guidelines and implement any applicable restrictions that may be in place on the day you volunteer.
McNutt Family and Current Housing
When Ashely McNutt thinks about her new Habitat home, the first word that comes to her mind is “peace.”Ashely and her son, Myles, had to relocate to their current Canton rental house quickly and without many options -- they signed a lease with the first landlord who told them they could move in. The house has several issues, with the most pressing being a faulty furnace that doesn’t stay on reliably overnight. The family also has experienced problems with attempted break-ins and thefts at their house, and there has been some violent crime in the neighborhood. On top of that, Ashely’s out-of-state landlord has said he intends to sell the house, which creates a constant worry for Ashely that she and her son will have to uproot their lives at a moment’s notice.Recently, the importance of home has taken on an even deeper meaning for Ashely and her son, after they lost two people they loved in less than a year. That experience taught them that everything is temporary, Ashely said, and reminded her that there’s always an opportunity to grow. “If you want things to be better you can make it better, especially with opportunities like Habitat to help you along the way, because you can’t always do it yourself,” Ashely said.
A Bright Future
Since joining the Habitat partnership, Ashely has taken classes about financial success, homeowner maintenance, and personal development to prepare her for homeownership. She also has volunteered at the ReStore and helped other families in the Habitat partnership build their homes. Now that it’s her turn to build, Ashely is looking forward to being able to purchase a safe home with space for her family to grow. While she knows becoming a homeowner will bring about a different set of stressors than renting did, she also knows that having something that’s hers will give her a sense of peace. Ashely hopes her new Habitat home is a place that everyone in her family can gather – her dream is to host Thanksgiving for her many siblings and cousins. “Home doesn’t have to be huge,” she said, “but it’s a better, safer place for all of us to be together.”