Six new homeowners celebrated their accomplishment Saturday in Tulsa. They will receive keys to their houses because of Clark Howard’s Habitat for Humanity Blitz Build.
The program works with sponsors like radio personality Clark Howard and volunteers to build affordable housing for Tulsans. Howard initially assisted with Habitat for Humanity after the 2011 Joplin, Missouri tornado. Green Country Habitat for Humanity President Cameron Walker said Howard’s involvement in Tulsa came after late local philanthropist Jimmie Swindler pushed him to help at the Joplin dedication.
“He put Clark in a very precarious position and challenged him to come back the next year,” Walker said. “He told him he would split the sponsorship with him if he came back and so Clark graciously agreed. Many, many years later we are here again celebrating.”
Folks attending the dedication got a chance to walk through a Habitat for Humanity home to see what the digs look like.
The program expects to more than quadruple their house building efforts from 2020. That year, they built 23 houses. They’re on pace to build 90 new homes in 2025.
Tenants put in the work to get the opportunity to own a home. They complete roughly a year’s worth of home ownership courses.
Habitat homeowner Traci Reeve completed her coursework in a little over 2 months. She expects a lot of emotions to come out when she gets the key to her new house.
“I’ve cried so much the last couple weeks over this,” Reeve said. “It’s super overwhelming. It’s just a dream come true.”
Reeve moved into her new home on Monday with her grandson.
