'Mind-blowing': Habitat for Humanity, FAMU, Whirlpool build a home for a Tallahassee family

Tallahassee native Lynesia White and her three daughters were handed the keys to their new home Friday through the help of a partnership including Big Bend Habitat for Humanity and Florida A&M University.

White, a lead chef at a local rehabilitation center, will soon go from living in a two-bedroom apartment — where her older daughters shared one room and she shared the other with her youngest child — to owning a four-bedroom home, where they each will have their own room.

“It’s been a long journey for me, but I hung in there,” White, 40, told a crowd of supporters during a Mid Build Home Dedication ceremony at the site on Disston Street. “This is one of the goals I had written down, and it’s the first one that I’ve checked off my list.”

With the hands of over 100 people all on deck, FAMU students, faculty and staff teamed up with the Big Bend Habitat for Humanity — a Christian ministry dedicated to eliminating substandard housing and homelessness in Gadsden and Leon counties — and Whirlpool Corporation, a global kitchen and laundry company.

The building process began three weeks ago in the heart of the Greater Bond neighborhood adjacent to FAMU’s campus and is slated to be complete by Christmas.

During the ceremony, FAMU student helpers who are a part of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering’s EESI (Educating Engineering Students Innovatively) Program wore bright orange shirts with the quote “It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can make a home.”

“Part of our motto is ‘Excellence with Caring,’ and this demonstrates that caring piece,” FAMU President Larry Robinson said at the ceremony before heading to the university’s 2023 Homecoming Convocation on campus that same morning.

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“What a wonderful opportunity this is for you and your kids to live and thrive here on the south side of Tallahassee,” Robinson told White.

While seeking homeownership and working extra hours for money by braiding hair and designing and printing T-shirts, White witnessed her older sister struggle in managing a conventional mortgage, which is a loan that is not backed by a government program.

But after the completion of her home, White will have a 30-year, zero-interest mortgage with the monthly payment of $400 to $450.

White applied for the Habitat program four years ago and was able to close on the house after meeting criteria such as the need for housing and the ability to pay back the affordable mortgage.

She was also required to invest 400 hours of volunteer work, which is called sweat equity.

“I grew up in this area, and all of this was not here when I was a young girl,” White said, referring to housing in the Greater Bond area. “Seeing the changes take place and seeing a lot of us come together to help one another is mind-blowing.”

The Whirlpool Corporation has been a partner of the global Habitat for Humanity program for over 20 years and has donated more than $125 million in appliances since 1999, including refrigerators, dishwashers and microwaves for homes around the world to help over a million people.

While speaking to community members at the ceremony, Big Bend Habitat for Humanity’s Executive Director Antoine Wright said the new house stands on a property of 2 acres, which is enough space for nine additional homes to be built.

“Think about the economic impact in this neighborhood — on the south side of Tallahassee within the shadows of our wonderful university — to see nine brand new homes coming into this community,” Wright said. “We’re talking about changing lives not one house at a time, but a neighborhood at a time.”

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU works with Habitat for Humanity to build Tallahassee family a home