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Next week will mark the beginning of a new chapter in
the life of Patty Redpath and her big brood of adopted children [see Dusty
Rhodes, “Seventh heaven,” April 24], as Habitat for Humanity
breaks ground on a home for the Redpath family June 18. Helping out during
the first intensive days of the build will be a busload of at least 26 kids
from Helias High School in Jefferson City, Mo., which happens to be the
alma mater of Habitat executive director Dana Plummer (Class of 1987).
Plummer says the unexpected help came while she was
working with the school to get a picture of her dad’s football team
and casually mentioned that Helias should consider including Habitat in
future mission trips. Within a few hours Helias principal Didier Aur had
called her, saying that two dozen kids wanted to help.
“This is just awesome, I can’t believe
it,” Plummer says.
The kids will bring sleeping bags to camp out at the
Redpath’s church, Little Flower, and pay about $85 apiece for the
chartered bus.
“We have great kids,” Aur says, adding
that seven recent graduates are among the Helias building crew.
However, the enthusiasm over the new home hasn’t
caught on among officers of the homeowners’ association in Eastview
Estates, the upscale predominantly black neighborhood where the Redpath
home will be built. Plummer says Habitat has received a “cease and
desist” order from the group, which opposes the project mainly
because Habitat doesn’t build basements, and Eastview officers say
houses without basements will reduce property values. The association also
tried to block Habitat’s first project in the neighborhood [see
“Not in my black yard,” Sept. 27, 2007].
“I’ve heard through the grapevine
they’re planning some sort of civil disobedience,” Plummer
says.
Officers of the homeowners’ association have
consistently declined to answer questions about Habitat, but both Plummer
and Lisa Reeves — the first Habitat homeowner in Eastview —
have said that most neighbors have been friendly, generous, and supportive.
Contact Dusty Rhodes at drhodes@illinoistimes.com.
Contact Dusty Rhodes at drhodes@illinoistimes.com.
