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Carpenter's Home (pt. 2)

For a visual experience of Melissa Carpenter's dream come true, check out this special multimedia presentation created by yours truly!

Carpenter's Home

By Jonah S. Taylor

Top: A Habitat volunteer from Alma College in Michigan writes a

message on the window frame of Melissa Carpenter's house. Photo by Jonah Taylor

Center: Melissa Carpenter (center) poses with Habitat volunteers

from Simmons College, an all-women's college, in Boston, Mass. Photo by Jonah Taylor

Bottom: Melissa Carpenter works with volunteers to brace

the frame of her home-to-be. Photo by Jonah Taylor

Melissa Carpenter’s life-long dream is being built right before her very eyes. Since she was a child, she dreamed of owning her own home, a dream that was tested four and half years ago after one of the most catastrophic national disasters in American history.

“I lost everything because when the hurricane hit we were basically using my furniture and stuff so it was pretty devastating,” said the 41-year-old. Carpenter, along with her mother and sister, were forced to live with relatives for three years after Hurricane Katrina. Now, the Hattiesburg Area Habitat for Humanity is making her dream a reality by simply doing what it always does—granting the keys to homeownership, one board at a time.

Carpenter was eventually approved after applying for the program at an orientation meeting last spring.

“Everyone, when you say Melissa’s name, says, ‘Yes, we know Melissa. She belongs to three churches and she’s a member of this and that and she gives of her time unselfishly…and we’ve seen that at Habitat as well,” Dixon said.

Carpenter has worked as the secretary of Student Activities at the University of Southern Mississippi for 13 years, helping numerous student organizations with events and projects. She’s involved with several charities like the American Red Cross, Big Brother Big Sister, American Heart Walk and Habitat For Humanity. She also advises five different campus clubs including the Southern Miss Campus Civitan Club, a community service organization.

“I love to volunteer. I think that’s my passion,” Carpenter said. “I like giving back to the community. I think it’s because I don’t have a lot of monetary funds and so I like to just help out wherever I can.”

Not only is her generous and hard working spirit an inspiration to others, so is her dream.

“This is a really important experience for me to be able to help somebody build their own home because my family has been trying to build a home for several years,” said Liz Kerlin, a student Habitat volunteer from USM. “And just hearing her talk about how much joy it’s bringing her, it hits home with me because I know that’s how it’s going to feel for my family when we finally get to move into a home that we built with our own hands.”

Despite her consistent devotion to others, Carpenter is not oblivious to the irony her situation beholds.

“You know, I always say God works in mysterious ways,” she said. “It’s different being on the receiving end. But sometimes I think why not, because you’ve given back to others. Now it’s your time to receive the blessings that God has for you.”

Interested in volunteering? Visit Hattiesburg Habitat For Humanity or Habitat For Humanity Int'l to begin making someone's dream home a reality.

Other links:

USM to Build Habitat Home for Staff Member

Theology of the Hammer

Party-Crashers or Life-Savers?!

If any of you have been watching the news lately, you might have noticed a story involving a couple who is being accused of crashing the White House State Dinner last week. White House officials, including the Secret Service who failed to prevent what is being called a "breach of security," claim Tareq and Michaele Salahi did not have an invitation to the dinner. Yet, the Salahis not only made their way past security, they shook hands with the president himself! And to top it off, they even managed to get pictures with Vice President Joe Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. I have one thing to say to all this: LAUGH OUT LOUD!!!

I am just beside myself with amazement that a couple of wannabe reality TV stars from Virginia somehow weaseled their way into one of the most important buildings in the country without getting so much as a "Hey, can I see your ticket?" So, it doesn't matter how much the White House, the Secret Service or the media tries to paint the Salahis in a negative light the ones who failed at their jobs are the ones who look stupid. Of course, the couple are denying they crashed the dinner and adamantly declare they were invited saying in an interview with NBC's "Today" show, "We were invited, not crashers, and there isn't anyone who would have the audacity or the poor behavior to do that. No one would do that, and certainly not us."

Well, actually, there are plenty of people who would do that, especially TERRORISTS! I'm sure that if they knew it would've been that easy, the White House would have been obliterated a long time ago and our president assassinated. Has 9/11 not taught us anything??Fortunately, the incompetence of government security was exposed in a harmless situation, thanks to a couple who only wanted attention. Despite the embarrassment and anger, I think it's safe to say that this nation really lucked up with this one.

Links:

[Salahi denies being White House party-crasher]

[Michaele Salahi's Facebook page (including photos with Biden & Emanuel)]

Hooded Hoodlums

I'm going to cut to the chase--racism, white supremacy, whatever you want to call it, is stupid! I just read an online article published by Laurel Leader-Call, a local newspaper, and I am steaming. The article is about a Ku Klux Klan rally that was held in Raleigh, MS last Saturday night. Apparently, a group of about 100 people (I'd prefer the title racist idiots, personally) gathered on the steps of the courthouse saying they were there to "get rid of the unwanted." REALLY??!! I mean, did they not get the memo that pillow case masks are so out of season?! Or how about the memo that the president of the United States is black? (or at least half)

What's so interesting to me about this "racist shindig" is that it almost seems as though the law enforcement tried to excuse it or belittle it, calling the meeting a "little gathering at the courthouse." Okay, yeah, 100 people, not so little. Also, the officer, Matthew Tullos, said that none of the people gathered were from the Raleigh area and that a lot of them were from out of town. Hello, Deputy Dufus, if NONE of them were from the area then ALL of them were from out of town!

An eyewitness, Gayla Gavin, who is black, said Tullos was wrong and that many of them were from the area. As a matter of fact, Gavin claimed half the people in the group were from Smith County. I'm thinking Officer Tullos knew many of these people were local residents and probably knew some personally. I'll even go a step further to suggest that some, if not several, were fellow lawmen or local politicians. Perhaps those are grand assumptions, but they're my assumptions so they can be as grand as I want them to be.

The article goes on to quote Gavin as saying, "Those from other places took their masks off, but those from Smith County kept theirs on." Now, my inner journalist begs the question of how she knew those who kept their masks on were local residents if, in fact, they kept their masks on?? Either way, this whole charade is ridiculous. I have come across other absurd instances and events on the Mississippi White Knights website and have written an article, both to which I am including links below.

I realize that many people have their own twisted little versions of truth and reality and that only God can judge them, but I just don't understand the concept of "white is right." What makes one race of people supreme enough to judge all others? Whites have always done this. Historical proof of this stretches across all geographical borders and is still being proven today i.e. this recent rally. As a Caucasian, I am ashamed. Something must be done. Otherwise, this wretched arrogance will only allow other races the same privilege--to judge and hate us for no sensible reason other than the color of our skin.

Ku Klux Klan rallies in Raleigh

The Mississippi White Knights website

The Klan taints Mississippi's reputation (my article)

Stimulus War

I'm assuming everyone who is an interactive member of society (this includes breathing) or at least has access to some type of news source is aware that America now has a brand new stimulus bill, courtesy of President Barack Obama. The Democrats won yet another war within the borders of our country, and that is what is most interesting to me--that it was a war. It appeared to me the more President Obama begged for bipartisanship the more separated Washington became, and I blame the media for that. Although it shouldn’t have been a shocker when one party gave the bill a big thumbs up and the other a big thumbs down, the media's coverage of this stimulus battle totally over-hyped the process. They made it into a soap opera drama that fueled both parties, Republicans and Democrats, and over-analyzed both arguments of this bill. Congratulations American media! Once again you have managed to manipulate an important governmental procedure and twist it just to get your own version. On the other hand, this is inevitable in the long run because the media is really the only eyes we have to see into Washington. I guess we'll just have to learn how to pick through the garbage to get to the goods without being influenced by the smell....

>>Stimulus bill a sorry spectacle