Jose Lewis is excited about owning a home in a neighborhood where he has lived for many years.
Recently he resided on 4th Street and for the last four years has lived on 7th Street, watching the community grow. Jose and his son, JR, 13, have been living in a one-bedroom apartment. JR has the bedroom and Jose sleeps in the living room.
“There just isn’t enough space for us there. We’ve outgrown the apartment. JR is becoming a young man; he is already 5’9 and growing fast. When Jose divorced, he lost his house. He got custody of his son and has been looking for a home for them ever since. His friend Janie Booth, who also lives in Brooklyn and has a Habitat home at 803 Jack Street, told him about the Habitat program. Applying in January 2009, Jose was accepted in March 2009. He is happy to be able to give his son a more stable life and particularly to give him a home with space for him to grow and have friends over.
Jose is a man who is very dedicated to improving his community. He has many exciting plans and works actively to make the City aware of their needs. He constantly talks with local City Council Member Edward Reisinger working to get more support from Baltimore City and he works with neighbors to bring pride to their neighborhood. He’s having success – one of the neighbors cleans the alleys on a regular basis. Jose is working specifically on getting a recreation center for the children so they will have a place to go, play sports, and work on their homework.
For the last 15 years, Jose has been working for the Patapsco Treatment Plant maintaining the gardens and doing general maintenance work. “Sometimes I’m even a chauffer!” Jose loved his “sweat equity” and even though he has finished the time he needed to complete his required hours, he comes back regularly to volunteer. “I have been blessed and so I want to pass on my blessings to others.” He enjoys working with all the Habitat staff and volunteers. “I learned a lot from the volunteers. Without the volunteers, people willing to come out and help others to have a home of their own, the Habitat program wouldn’t work.” He especially likes working with the AmeriCorps. – a domestic Peace Corps. Members sign up for a year’s service to Habitat and help with construction. Jose always comes to work on a building site when the new AmeriCorps begin.
For Jose the advice that Rodney, the Site Supervisor in Brooklyn, regularly tells the volunteers is important. “Work like a mule, not like a horse. A mule will sit down and rest when he needs to and a horse will work till it drops!”
