Students and staff from the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration are partnering with Habitat for Humanity Tuscaloosa and Calvary Baptist Church to raise money and build a new home for a DCH Regional Medical Center employee.
Jackie Wright lived with her sister and three nephews in a two-bedroom house that had been in her family since before she was born. Because her sister suffers from diabetes and battles substance abuse, she has full custody of her nephews, who are 17, 8 and 3 years old.
“You would never know because I still go to work and I smile every day,” Wright said. “I tell people y’all see the glory, but you just don’t know the story.”
Wright is entering her twenty third year at DCH Regional Medical Center, but the majority of her income has been spent trying to repair the house where she was born and raised.
The house was affected by a number of issues, including a lack of insulation, an unstable foundation and a heating and air system that constantly leaked. Without heat during the night, Wright and her family resorted to sleeping on a single mattress next to the fireplace to keep warm.
“The main reason she couldn’t get out of her situation is because the house was so poorly constructed,” said Emily Howitz, one of three other marketing graduate students working on the project.
As part of a project management class, the graduate students are helping organize and promote the campaign.
Operating under the slogan “Get Jackie Home for Christmas,” the mission of the project is to have a new home built for Wright and her family in just five days. Known as a blitz build, the construction will last from Dec. 13 to Dec. 18 and cost $70,000. A team of 15 volunteers will work alongside 10 contractors each day to ensure the completion of the house before Dec. 25.
Billy Hatmaker, a business professor who teaches project and marketing management, is also a member at Calvary Baptist Church. Calvary started working with housing projects in Tuscaloosa several years ago and got in touch with Wright through its home repair ministry.
“We’ve tried to help keep that house repaired and keep it from leaking for a couple of years now and it just isn’t repairable,” Hatmaker said. “We knew what was going to have to happen.”
The house was demolished shortly after receiving confirmation from Habitat Tuscaloosa that the project was a go. Wright and her family now live with an aunt until their new home sees completion.
Carson Tinker, a marketing graduate student and the long snapper for UA’s football team, also works on the project. Although he knows the experience gained from participating in this operation looks impressive on a resume, he doesn’t consider that the most important aspect.
“I gain vital career experience working on this project, but the biggest thing for me is being able to make a huge difference in Ms. Jackie’s life by helping her and her family,” Tinker said.
The students and member of Calvary have raised $45,000 through donations and offerings but are still short of their goal. A fund raiser with Chick-fil-a is planned for Nov. 29, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to the construction of the new home.
Donations can also be made online by clicking on the green donate button under the Get Jackie Home for Christmas tab on the Habitat Tuscaloosa website.
“This is a godsend,” Wright said. “I have been praying for 22 years and my prayers have finally been answered.”
