On the count of three, community members hoisted up and secured the first wall of Jeramie and Patricia's future home. Not only is the family's home the fourth house being constructed within Haywood Habitat for Humanity's Walton Woods subdivision, but it's also one of the first homes being constructed in Western NC through the State Employees Credit Union's ambitious Mountains-to-Sea Challenge. The challenge aims to fund the construction of a Habitat for Humanity home in each of North Carolina's 100 counties, and the SECU Foundation has put up $10 million to make it happen. "As employees of SECU, we're absolutely delighted to be involved with a project like this," said SECU Senior Vice President Barbara Walls. "It just fits perfectly with the credit union's philosophy of helping people have safe, quality homes." If all goes as planned, Jeramie and Patricia and their two children - Madison, 3, and Jaxon, 2 - will be in their new home by next summer. "We're so excited," Patricia said. "Right now we're in a rental situation that's not that great and this will give us a permanent place to call home." "Habitat is more than building houses. It's about giving people ownership of their lives. These families go through the application process, financial management training and have hundreds of hours of working on their homes in the process," Sheppard said. "Home ownership can change someone's entire life trajectory."
