- A key to a 4BD/2BR home was presented to Lynesia White on Friday in a key ceremony.
- The house was built in partnership with FAMU, Big Bend Habitat for Humanity and Whirlpool.
- Watch now to hear from Lynesia on her first home and a FAMU student who is helping build it
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
For all the events happening at FAMU this homecoming week, just down the street, other students are grabbing tools to build a home.
I'm Alberto Camargo in the Greater Bond neighborhood of Tallahassee.
It's a safety goggles and gloves kind of day for those working on this house behind me.
I'm finding out whose home it is and how FAMU students are involved.
Through a university partnership with Big Bend Habitat for Humanity and Whirlpool, nearly 100 Rattlers have helped build this 4-bed, 2-bath home for Lynesia White and her three daughters.
"This is like the living room area. Kitchen back here."
A key ceremony was held Friday morning for Lynesia, who completed 400 hours of community service with Big Bend to qualify for the home. She says she just wanted to give herself and her girls.
"Something to call home. Something they can say 'my mom owns that'-- no, we own that!"
Lynesia says part of her service was helping build other Habitat-Whirlpool homes. On top of her job cooking in a retirement home and braiding hair, now she's learned parts of home construction.
"So guess what? You might be looking at a new woman contractor, you just never know."
I spoke with FAMU student Darius Bostick, who says he jumped at the idea of helping build a new family home.
"I was actually volunteering with Big Bend this summer, and when I heard they were giving affordable housing out to families, I was like that's perfect."
The White family home will include brand new Whirlpool appliances, which will cut down on their energy costs. It's the first home in what Big Bend says is a nine-home project over two acres of land in the Greater Bond neighborhood.
Lynesia tells me the house is set to be ready in December, and the plan is to have her Christmas tree in the big window you see here.
