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A new home for an 'unbelievable spirit'

By WAVENEY ANN MOORE
Published December 31, 2006

Celia Gibson has a new home for a new year. She had hoped to celebrate Christmas in the four-bedroom, two-bath Habitat for Humanity house, but was philosophical about the delay.

"God has his appointed time for everything," she said. "I feel so great. I feel so grateful to God, because everything will just be new. I will start anew."

The move to her own home, which she will share with her daughter, Nadia Bangura, 9, and other relatives, is significant on several levels. It's a story she's tired of telling and hearing retold. It brings back bad memories and particularly upsets her mother, she said.

Gibson and her family were forced to flee their homeland in Liberia when civil war erupted. Her father, uncle and grandfather were killed and the family, which had a comfortable life there, endured hardship in the bush and refugee camp in the Ivory Coast.

But that is behind her now, said Gibson, 32, who works as a nursing assistant at Bayfront Medical Center and is studying at St. Petersburg College. She hopes to become a nurse.

She received the keys to her new 1,237-square-foot home on 12th Street S at a special ceremony in early December. It was a chilly morning, but at least 100 people turned out for the event. Many were South Pinellas County Lutherans who had volunteered to help build the house as part of a special program that involves Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and members of local Lutheran congregations.

Eighty percent of the money for Gibson's house is being provided by Pinellas County Lutheran congregations, the national office of Thrivent, a fraternal organization, and its local chapters.

"How do you feel if you have one of your major goals accomplished?" Gibson asked rhetorically of those assembled to help her celebrate. "I'm just so happy. I just thank God for everyone."

It was just a few months earlier that she had gathered with volunteers in sweltering heat to help build the home.

Her mother, Rebecca Gibson, who is working toward her own Habitat house, smiled as she walked around the finished home. She is pleased for her daughter. "I thank God for her. I'm very, very happy for her," she said.

Karen Hessel, chair of Habitat for Humanity's south county family selection committee, called Gibson her "shining star" and spoke of her "unbelievable spirit." Gibson, she said, is "the strong guiding leader of all 13 members of her family."

To qualify for a Habitat home, homeowners must contribute 400 to 500 "sweat equity" hours on Habitat projects, including their own. Gibson had to complete half of her required 400 hours before she was assigned a home. She did so in less than a year. Her family is the second refugee family to participate in the Habitat program.

Habitat homes are sold at no profit and financed with a zero-interest loan. Families must earn 30 to 60 percent of the area median income. In Pinellas County, that's about $16,300 a year for a family of four. Homeowners must be able to repay the zero-interest loans. Their payments are used to build more Habitat houses, which are constructed by volunteers and homeowners.

[Last modified December 30, 2006, 21:57:38]