January 31, 2025 • 30 mins
President ans CEO of Memphis Habitat For Humanity shares everything they do in Memphis to Host, Stormy!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Pulse.
Ladies and gentlemen, We're going to have a good time today.
We're going to share some things with you that maybe
you do not know, and I know some of it
may be news for me too, So let's learn together.
Thank you for joining me for the Pulse. I am Stormy.
We keep our fingertips on the pulse of our community.
(00:21):
My guest today, special guest today is none other than Well,
how about I let him introduce himself and tell you
what it is that he does.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Go ahead, all right, thank you, Storming, You're welcome. So
I'm Dwayne Spencer. I'm the President and CEO of Habitat
for Humanity of Greater Memphis, and we've been around in
this community for over forty years, building and selling homes
to load of moderate income families, helping them achieve homeownership
for the first time.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Okay, so, Habitat for Humanity. I think i've seen you
guys on Remember that show that used to come on,
The makeover show, Move that bus, you know where they
would do that who was the guy? Forgot the guy?
But everybody used to watch it every weekend, and it
seems like y'all have.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Been a part of that of time or two probably featured,
I think on the national level. The Property Brothers some
supporters of hours.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
They're like, okay, but I can't remember the name of yet.
Somebody's gonna know the name of that show and they're
gonna email me. But y'all remember it. They say, move
that bus and they slide the picture across with the bus.
Get in there, and then they see the house home
makeover something like that. But he used to come on
it on in the evening time, and of course everybody
(01:40):
watched it. It seems like I was introduced to Habitat
Humanity from that show. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, and on h HGTV, you know they're talking about,
you know, decor and decorating houses. Yes, the Property Brothers
are new ambassadors for our organization. So that's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Okay, okay, okay, Habitat for Humanity. I'm a little shocked
that you guys have been in this community for forty years. Yes, okay, Well,
tell me a little bit about what Habitat Humanity does
and our audience, because I think many of us don't
really know. We've heard about you, We've seen when President
Jimmy Carter Rip when he came to town and built
(02:19):
a house. Yes, but tell me how that came about
and what it is that Habitat for Humanity does.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, So the organization is about creating opportunities for load
of moderate income folks to be able to buy a
house for the first time.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So you guys aren't giving away home. We're not giving it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We've never been about giving houses away, I think, and
I always use this as an example. You know, back
in the nineties, you'd see Habitat featured on the Oprah Show. Yeah,
and that was great, that was great publicity. But they
would be out on the built site. You see the volunteers,
they give the home buyer the key.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And they never really talked about the society of the
mortgage and the fact that they were going to have,
you know, a mortgage every month and the responsibility of
paying that and that you know, if you don't pay it,
what happens like anybody else. Yeah, that's exactly the reality
of this, except we don't charge any interest. That's the beauty. Yeah,
(03:23):
there is no interest. It's a zero interest mortgage. So
our home buyer ends up with a mortgage like any
of us, and they're paying the principle, the taxes and
the insurance. We all have to do that, but there's
no interest, so that is what makes it affordable.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So what what do you consider load to moderate?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Well, load to moderate actually depends on the number of
people in the household, so I'd have to read a
whole list of income ranges for it to make sense.
All of that information is on our website for anyone
who is curious about it. But it really identifies a
group of folks who cannot afford to buy a home
(04:06):
in the open marketplace with an interest rate attached. And
you know right now, the interest is somewhere, you know,
between six and seven percent. Our home buyers, over the
life of their thirty year mortgage, just like the rest
of us, are saving about two hundred thousand dollars, a
lot of money, a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Of a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And you know when they come to us, their renters,
they never owned a home before, and their financial situation
is one where they're spending up to fifty percent of
their bring home pay on housing. So I like to
help people understand it like this, you got two paychecks
a month, what if one entire paycheck went to your rents.
(04:51):
That's too much. The national average should be somewhere around
thirty percent of your bring home pay or less. So
our goal is to get it there, and we took it.
I mean, the average mortgage is somewhere around seven hundred
and fifty dollars for a home buyer in our program.
If you can imagine that they were spending twoever thirteen
(05:12):
before that, yeah, you know, then it's a beautiful thing. Yeah,
the home buyers can come into our program, they're buying
a house for the first time. We see people quitting
part time jobs because they don't need them anymore. They're
spending more time at home with children, helping them study
and thinking more about education, and they're just it's just
(05:34):
a huge relief, a huge burden is lifted.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
So it's kind of you're affecting the socio economics. It
is socioeconomic of the family and absolutely amazing. That's right.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
We used to, you know, say the economic impact of
our work all the time, and in the last seven
or eight years we've really focused on the socio economic impact,
meaning you know, and we have a senior researcher on
our team, Chris Reader, She talks to all of our
home buyers before they get into the home, shortly after, yeah,
(06:04):
they've moved in, and then a few years after they've
been in, and we want to see if they are
more active, if they're walking, being more active in their communities,
if they're voting, yeah, you know, if their children's grades
have improved. What is the financial condition of that household,
you know, has it improved, So you're kind of improving
(06:26):
the quality of quality of life.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, that's good stuff right there, that's right.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
I create is you know, they have equity in the
home from the very first payment.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Where you've been all our lives and I know you've
been here, and I'm so glad that And I hope
you guys are listening, and I hope you somebody's listening
who can utilize this information. Tell me how many Memphians
have you guys served this year?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, so this year we built twenty four In this
last year, and in the year that we're currently in,
we're going to build and sell thirty houses.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Oh my goodness, love.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So that's a big number for us because we've hovered,
you know, around eighteen to twenty and our goal is
to get up to about thirty houses and sort of
stay there. And so it looks like we're going to
do it. We're raising a lot of money, we're in
the middle of a big campaign to help get us there,
and a lot of people are listening.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
A lot of people are listening.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
We're knocking on a lot of doors, having a lot
of conversations. Along with the fundraising, we're doing a lot
of friend raising. So every conversation isn't about asking for
a dollar or an investment at our work, it's a
little bit of what we're doing here, just kind of
helping people understand what it is we do. Dispel some myths,
like people thinking that we give the houses away. I
(07:45):
thought we letting people just ask questions about how it works.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
It works because I thought when President Jimmy Carter came,
you know, like you said in twenty sixteen, I thought
that that house that you were building, you were giving
it away.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Well, so many people and so many people think that
Jimmy Carter helped found the organization.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yes, so that was one of them.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The quick story about that is the entity was founded
down in America's Georgia.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So by the Fullers.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
By the Fullers, Yes, Linda and Millard Fuller and in
nineteen seventy six, and as they started trying to figure
out what this whole partnership housing would look like, they
knew that, based on Christian principles, they would not charge
interest if they helped to build a house for folks,
and they would build it in partnership with them and
(08:32):
then sell it to them. But then they realized, we
need some more, you know, publicity. We need a little
help in having more people understand who we are and
knowing who we are. And as President Carter was leaving
the White House in nineteen eighty one, he returned to Americas.
They went knocking and said, do you think you might
(08:55):
help us get some notoriety for our little fledgling organization.
And over the next few years they kept having those conversations,
and by nineteen eighty four he had said, okay, I'll
give you a week a week a year, and he
went with the organization to New York. They had this
big week long event they called it the Jimmy Carter
Work Project, had thousands of volunteers out and that's when
(09:18):
a lot of people really started to take note of
the organization. Fast forward to when they did it in
Memphis and it was called the Jimmy and Rosalind Carter
Work Project because she'd been there all along, attending all
of those events year after year. And like in Memphis
when you covered it and a lot of other folks,
(09:39):
it brings the notoriety that we need. Yeah, but we
need to do better. We can do better in telling
our story, and so we'll be working on that. But
we've really just been behind the scenes, you know, cranking
it out, raising dollars, doing God's work, doing God's work.
I that's what that is. I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So the people helped build their own Yes, so they're
taking part in something that that makes you feel real good.
You can tell people I built it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I built it.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
You know what I'm saying. I'm a builder. You can
add some stuff to your resume.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I don't think anybody would hire you right to do it.
But but you did it. You took part your hands,
helped to build your house. And then there's no.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
It's a part of the story. I don't think many
of us are out there saying, oh, yeah, we we
had a hand in building our own house.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
We watched it.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Being bright, I was just sitting there we went and
bought it and got our loan and we bought it.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
But yes, our families are getting a zero interest mortgage
for their home over thirty years.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
It's affordable.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And they literally did help build it within thousands of
other people from the Memphis community who came out and
assisted it.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah. Beautiful, just downright beautiful. I could see why Jimmy
Carter said, no, I'm not going back on this. Is
that I found mccallums. Yes, is it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Pretty much the entire his entire post presidency. Wow, that's
why he gets a lot of nods for what he
did after leaving the White House.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
And that's why people think that he's the founder of it,
like I did.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
His face is most closely aligned with our organization.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
What they call the poster Child. Yeah, yeah, is that? Wow?
I'm stormy. It is the Pulse And I'm talking with
Dwayne Spencer with Habitat for Humanity, an organization that is national,
but they're also in Memphis and many of you probably
don't even know that. So for people that are listening
to this show that want to use Habitat for Humanity
(11:41):
to or find out how they can uh use you
guys to get their home, build their homes and all
of that, how what do they do? How do they
reach you?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So obviously the easiest thing is going to our website.
Everything is there at Memphis habitat dot com, Memphis Memphis
habitat dot com. So, or if you're interested in volunteering,
if you want your church, you know, to make some
lunches for volunteers, if you want your business to come
out and spend a day hammering and nailing and helping
(12:14):
build the house of someone, It's very easy to do.
All the information is right there on the website. As
well as for folks who think they may qualify, you know,
I'm going to tell you we always share this story
that we have these orientations a couple of times every month.
People come into the orientations and they sit and we
(12:34):
start talking about, you know, what it's going to take
to become a home buyer, and then invariably somebody will say, so,
the house isn't free, like we're doing now trying to
help people understand it is not free, and invariably a
few people will get up and walk out because that's
what they have thought for all of these years, which
(12:55):
is why we as an organization have to do a
better job. And thank you Stormy for helping. Does bring
some clarity around what it is we do and how
the program works. Welcome and so the next I think
the next orientation is coming up at the main library
on the fourth February the fourth at noon, so you
can go in be on time because we kind of
(13:17):
shut the doors and don't let any other folks in.
We will tell you everything that's necessary to become a
home buyer through our program, and then of course after
that you do have to fill out the paperwork. We
underwrite the applicant like any other mortgage company. We have
a qualified loan originator on our team. She takes a
(13:39):
look at everything about how you've paid your bills or
not paid them. But one encouraging factor is we don't
put a lot of stock in a credit score. I
will tell you that the average credit score for our
buyer is somewhere around six twenty. But if you went
to a traditional mortgage company, yeah, you better be shooting
(14:01):
about seven to twenty. That's that's the going number, at
least over seven hundred, or your interest rate is going
to it's going to cost you more to buy that house,
but even at a six twenty credit score, you're still
going to get the same zero interest mortgage. Basically, what
we're looking at that's beautiful. It is we are giving
you a variable interest rate based on the history of
(14:25):
how you've paid your bills.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
So the whole time you're in that house, you're praying
you're paying principle.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yes, but no interest and years zero interest. That's right,
principal TACs and everybody got have insurance.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Which means that you're going to pay it off sooner.
You absolutely can. Yes, absolutely you can pay well, you
have the option, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But here's the thing. People are moving through a thirty
year mortgage. We all realize that our financial situation changes
over time.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
It improves.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Somebody goes back to college, gets a graduate degree, and
they they earn more. We all would love to pay
a little bit more on that principle if we can,
And so yes, our home buyers are in the same situation.
If they decide that they want to pay more, then
they certainly have the option to do that and to
pay it off early. Yeah, Oh my goodness, it's certainly
(15:16):
easier for them without that interest getting in the way.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
That is so amazing And Okay, so I'm looking at
your website and seeing these beautiful faces on the front
of that website, but I'm seeing here where it says
why Habitat is needed. Twenty eight percent of Memphis residents
live below the poverty line. Yes, twelve percent of those
have incomes at fifty percent below the poverty line or
(15:42):
poverty level. And then many families in poverty they pay
more than fifty percent of income toward rent.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Correct, that's real. So when you're in poverty, hm, it's
hard to get out of this.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes, it's like a cycle. It is.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So when you hear people talk about breaking the cycle
of poverty, it's a real thing. It's not just cliche,
and it is. You oftentimes feel trapped there, and often
you are, yes.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Until you figure it out. I've been there.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I know we all been there, and Habitat is one
of those opportunities to invest in yourself, to take a chance.
I would encourage anyone who thinks they may qualify to
come and learn about the program. Many times they'll say, oh,
my credit's terrible or this or that about something in
(16:40):
their history. But we're not judging. We're here to help.
We want to offer an opportunity for people to create independence,
self reliance, and stability for their families by attaining home
ownership and reducing how much you're paying on your household expenses.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah, it's pretty amazing because I mean what you guys
do taking away the interest, You're giving folks more time
to spend with their families because if they if for
some people they have they can multiple jobs. Yeah that
sort of yeah, yeah, I mean you give them it's
like getting some semblance of freedom of what the American
(17:25):
dream is really supposed to be about. It's not supposed
to be you, you know, struggling your entire life just
to pay rent. This is holistic.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I like to call it holistic in the sense that,
like you were saying, if one of the one of
the parents, and especially in a one parent household, is
able to if they have a job and a half,
if he or she can quit that part time job
at have to, and then they have more time at
(17:57):
home with their children, then they can invest in helping
them study. The children's grades are improved, and then there's
a better chance that that child will aspire to higher
education attainment, that sort of thing, and so stable housing
can affect education, your health.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah, and you kind of clear their way too. Now
for those homes that are struggling to buy food, oh
my gosh, yes, now you can buy food.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Healthy food is what you need to be focused on.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yah. Yeah, of course. And then now your kids are
happy because they've got a place they can feel safe
in stable. Yes, stability, Yeah, that's right. So it's just
it's a win win.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
We see it all the time. I love when our
home buyers come back and they give a testimonial and
they talk about how their lives have improved via home
ownership with Habitat, and I love hearing those stories. We
have to what we call a dedication just yesterday, and
(19:04):
the mayor was there because the city had supported our work,
and he spoke as well as one of our home buyers.
And I love it when the home buyer is saying,
you know, thank you for the investment. My life with
my family has changed in all these different positive ways.
And I have one home buyer who is celebrating taking
(19:29):
a vacation. Now, think about that, he and his family
now go to the beach annually. And I think we
can assume that folks who live on lower wages or
in poverty, don't think about or have the same aspirations
that all of us do. Respite a break, you know,
(19:50):
from day to day work activities. This is a real thing,
and I love We featured this family in our newsletter
recently and we put that beautiful picture of them on
the beach because we wanted people to realize that the
families that we're working with have the same hopes and
dreams and desires that all of us have, like taking
(20:12):
a break.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I'm looking at your Instagram and I see the pictures
where you were with Mayor Paul Young and other city
leaders here, and I see a family up there with
with keys. See people with keys? Are those new families
that are getting homes?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Or yes, yes, those are new families. And one of
the things that my team has done so remarkably well
with putting up like a mortgage demonstration document where they
sort of symbolically sign the mortgage documents. It's it's reminding
folks that it's not a giveaway and that at some
(20:53):
point these families that you see are going to a
closing table with the closing attorney. Right, this is the
real They're going to sign those documents and then the
mortgage is going to be set up and they will
begin paying their mortgage about forty five days later. And
that's what it's all about. It's not a giveaway, it's
a hand up. Yes, it's an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
It's teaching people to fish.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yes, that's right for themselves. And that beautiful.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
It is beautiful. I am storming you guys, thank you
for joining us on the pulse. And Dwayne Spencer of
Habitat for Humanity is here with us today. Tell me
your title with Habitat for You President and CEO. Okay, okay,
Now I'm looking at a picture of a President Carter
on your Instagram and did you go to his services?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I did go, I did, And it was such a
great honor, Stormy, it really was because other than the
folks at our headquarters in Atlanta, the Carter Center invited
seven CEOs from across the country who had a relationship
with President Carter, had hosted him and MSUs Carter in
(22:08):
their cities, and so I joined six other CEOs. We
did the rotunda service on Wednesday, had a whole, our
whole sort of private visitation with other people from the
public also in the room. But then also on Thursday,
(22:28):
we were pleasantly surprised that we were invited also to
the funeral, and that was just an amazing thing. It
was just such an honor to be in the room. Man.
There were presidents, yes, all of the former presidents, the
Congress that are, and a lot of delegates from other countries,
(22:50):
and we went up ahead of time before all of
those people got in the room and took photos of
where the president was going to be sitting.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Fascinating because William didn't come, but but was it his
brother that came, Prince William uh Oh Charles, one of
the one of them was president at the services.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
He was just really well respected and a lot outside
of the US because of the work that he had
done in other parts of the world in regard to
the guinea worm in South America that bores its way
into people's feet who don't have proper housing or floors,
and worked on monitoring elections in many different countries where
(23:37):
free and fair elections are, you know, not a thing.
And so he just really cared about humanity and he
was such a humble servant. I think it's one of
the reasons that his presidency was probably difficult for him
because he really thought a lot with his heart, not
(23:57):
necessarily about economics and and real power politics, and so
that sometimes is a good thing, and sometimes it doesn't
work as well. When you're the leader of the free world,
you know.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
A lot of tough decisions to be made, a lot
of able to negotiate with, introduced to a lot of
information that you probably don't want to know.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Yeah, when you're just wanting to do good out of
that office, it's complicated.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
It's complicated.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Yeah, But we appreciate all that he did in those
four years, but in particular what he contributed to the
world after he left office.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, and what he's done for Habitat for Humanity pretty
much made you guys in a household name. Yes, being
a part of an organization that is like doing literally
God's work. This is amazing that you guys do so much.
And just so you do need donations. I'm sure, oh,
I see that donate but.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Money every day nonprofit needs donations because in that in
that terminology there not profit designation. It is true, we
don't we're not in business to make any money. We
certainly need to pay our staff and the people who
work for us. But yeah, most people who contribute to
Habitat are giving directly to the program. They want to
(25:17):
support the house building and we appreciate that because it
is an investment. And then you know, we raise money
in other ways to take care of our team members.
We have a large staff, but we have two other
things I want to make sure I get to talk about.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Okay, well tell me about that.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
So we have another program, and then we also have
another way that we bring money into the organization. So
the other program is called Aging in Place.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Have you heard of that?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, okay, so yes, Aging a Place is about doing
critical repairs for older adults to help them remain in
the homes that they own. Now, we only do it
for older adults sixty and over who own their homes
or they may own it outright, or they still have
a mortgage. But as long as they're paying on their
(26:04):
mortgage on time and they need our help, then we
will come in and do repairs for them. Now, they
have to be at or below about fifty percent of
the area median income. These are folks whose household income
is even less than the people that we're building for,
so they have an even greater need they're living on
(26:26):
about twelve or thirteen hundred dollars a month total. They're
older adults, and they don't have the ability to make
the repairs themselves, and we are spending on average fifteen
to eighteen thousand dollars per intervention. There's a lot of
accessibility and mobility improvements, but a lot of people also
need a new roof. And I think what has happened lately,
(26:49):
as I've done stories with April Thompson wrig lately, is
that people think we have a whole lot more money
than we do. We don't, and some people's homes are
in just such great disrepair they need forty fifty thousand
dollars worth to help, and the money that we have
(27:11):
allocated to us just doesn't allow us to spend that
kind of money. So it gets a little tricky and
a lot of people end up being disappointed, but a
whole lot of people are very grateful when we are
able to help them. And those families don't pay anything back. Wow,
it's completely free, okay. Yeah, And so aging in place
(27:31):
and we are doing about two hundred and fifty of
those a year, and we've already done about thirteen hundred
since twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Sixteen, and tell me about the other one.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And the other thing is just the habitat restore. So
tell me you know about the restore? No, no, no,
I bet you somebody's out there saying I know about
the restore because it is a retail establishment. We have
two of them now. One of them is right next
to our headquarters at when Chess and Riverdale, and there
(28:01):
is a second one out in Collierville. So basically, restore
is about taking gently used merchandise from anyone who wants
to donate it to us, and then we resell it
so it could be dishes, a dinette set, a washer
and dryer, and then we resell it to the public.
(28:22):
But here's what's happened as of late Our model before
COVID was that eighty or ninety percent of the product
we got it was coming from individual households where you
just wanted to get rid of a couch because you're
going to buy a new one. After COVID, we now
have about seventy percent of our merchandise is brand new,
(28:47):
out of the box. What okay, yes, it's name brands
that you will recognize, and some may be scratched or
gently gently used, but the majority is new product. And
I'll talk.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Anybody can shop.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Anybody, Yes, anybody can shop there. And I'm just wonderful
it is. Uh you know, pillows, dishes, pots, pans, flooring, stoves, refrigerators,
come in and see us. It's all sorts of household
goods at discount price, march down significantly.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Oh I love that.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
I would say it's generally, you know, sixty five to
seventy percent off I would pay retail.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Love it. Yeah, Well, thank you mister Spencer for stopping by.
Presidents and CEO of Habitat for Humanity ladies and gentlemen,
Dwayne Spencer, thank you so much for coming by. Thanks all,
this is this is amazing, y'all. We've got a jewel
of an organization in our community. Uh it is Habitat
for Humanity of Greater Memphis. Y'all. They're doing amazing work,
(29:52):
doing God's work. Thank you again for sharing your story. Now,
for people that want to get in touch with you,
I know they can go to Memphis Habitat dot com.
But but other ways can they reach you or find you?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
They can call our office seven six one for seven
seven to one and if someone wants to just email
me directly. When you go to the website and you
go under the staff, there is under my photo. You
can just click that and you can send me an
email and just ask me whatever you like to know. Okay,
I'd love to hear from whoever is interested in learning more.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Beautiful All right, y'all, Well there you go. It is
the pulse. I am Stormy, keeping our fingertips on the
pulse of our community. Man. I love to share stories
like this with you. Oh okay, and you got a
good one today, So thank you again. President CEO Dwayne Spencer, y'all,
give it up, give it up, Thank you storm Thank
you so much for coming by. We appreciate you so
very much. And yeah, I'm going to do it for
(30:48):
the show. Guys. We'll see you next week, same time,
same station. God bless you have a great week.
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Pulse.
Ladies and gentlemen, We're going to have a good time today.
We're going to share some things with you that maybe
you do not know, and I know some of it
may be news for me too, So let's learn together.
Thank you for joining me for the Pulse. I am Stormy.
We keep our fingertips on the pulse of our community.
(00:21):
My guest today, special guest today is none other than Well,
how about I let him introduce himself and tell you
what it is that he does.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Go ahead, all right, thank you, Storming, You're welcome. So
I'm Dwayne Spencer. I'm the President and CEO of Habitat
for Humanity of Greater Memphis, and we've been around in
this community for over forty years, building and selling homes
to load of moderate income families, helping them achieve homeownership
for the first time.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Okay, so, Habitat for Humanity. I think i've seen you
guys on Remember that show that used to come on,
The makeover show, Move that bus, you know where they
would do that who was the guy? Forgot the guy?
But everybody used to watch it every weekend, and it
seems like y'all have.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Been a part of that of time or two probably featured,
I think on the national level. The Property Brothers some
supporters of hours.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
They're like, okay, but I can't remember the name of yet.
Somebody's gonna know the name of that show and they're
gonna email me. But y'all remember it. They say, move
that bus and they slide the picture across with the bus.
Get in there, and then they see the house home
makeover something like that. But he used to come on
it on in the evening time, and of course everybody
(01:40):
watched it. It seems like I was introduced to Habitat
Humanity from that show. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Well, and on h HGTV, you know they're talking about,
you know, decor and decorating houses. Yes, the Property Brothers
are new ambassadors for our organization. So that's a good thing.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Okay, okay, okay, Habitat for Humanity. I'm a little shocked
that you guys have been in this community for forty years. Yes, okay, Well,
tell me a little bit about what Habitat Humanity does
and our audience, because I think many of us don't
really know. We've heard about you, We've seen when President
Jimmy Carter Rip when he came to town and built
(02:19):
a house. Yes, but tell me how that came about
and what it is that Habitat for Humanity does.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, So the organization is about creating opportunities for load
of moderate income folks to be able to buy a
house for the first time.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
So you guys aren't giving away home. We're not giving it.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
We've never been about giving houses away, I think, and
I always use this as an example. You know, back
in the nineties, you'd see Habitat featured on the Oprah Show. Yeah,
and that was great, that was great publicity. But they
would be out on the built site. You see the volunteers,
they give the home buyer the key.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Yeah, I remember that.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And they never really talked about the society of the
mortgage and the fact that they were going to have,
you know, a mortgage every month and the responsibility of
paying that and that you know, if you don't pay it,
what happens like anybody else. Yeah, that's exactly the reality
of this, except we don't charge any interest. That's the beauty. Yeah,
(03:23):
there is no interest. It's a zero interest mortgage. So
our home buyer ends up with a mortgage like any
of us, and they're paying the principle, the taxes and
the insurance. We all have to do that, but there's
no interest, so that is what makes it affordable.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
So what what do you consider load to moderate?
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Well, load to moderate actually depends on the number of
people in the household, so I'd have to read a
whole list of income ranges for it to make sense.
All of that information is on our website for anyone
who is curious about it. But it really identifies a
group of folks who cannot afford to buy a home
(04:06):
in the open marketplace with an interest rate attached. And
you know right now, the interest is somewhere, you know,
between six and seven percent. Our home buyers, over the
life of their thirty year mortgage, just like the rest
of us, are saving about two hundred thousand dollars, a
lot of money, a lot.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Of a lot of money.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
And you know when they come to us, their renters,
they never owned a home before, and their financial situation
is one where they're spending up to fifty percent of
their bring home pay on housing. So I like to
help people understand it like this, you got two paychecks
a month, what if one entire paycheck went to your rents.
(04:51):
That's too much. The national average should be somewhere around
thirty percent of your bring home pay or less. So
our goal is to get it there, and we took it.
I mean, the average mortgage is somewhere around seven hundred
and fifty dollars for a home buyer in our program.
If you can imagine that they were spending twoever thirteen
(05:12):
before that, yeah, you know, then it's a beautiful thing. Yeah,
the home buyers can come into our program, they're buying
a house for the first time. We see people quitting
part time jobs because they don't need them anymore. They're
spending more time at home with children, helping them study
and thinking more about education, and they're just it's just
(05:34):
a huge relief, a huge burden is lifted.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
So it's kind of you're affecting the socio economics. It
is socioeconomic of the family and absolutely amazing. That's right.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
We used to, you know, say the economic impact of
our work all the time, and in the last seven
or eight years we've really focused on the socio economic impact,
meaning you know, and we have a senior researcher on
our team, Chris Reader, She talks to all of our
home buyers before they get into the home, shortly after, yeah,
(06:04):
they've moved in, and then a few years after they've
been in, and we want to see if they are
more active, if they're walking, being more active in their communities,
if they're voting, yeah, you know, if their children's grades
have improved. What is the financial condition of that household,
you know, has it improved, So you're kind of improving
(06:26):
the quality of quality of life.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, that's good stuff right there, that's right.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
I create is you know, they have equity in the
home from the very first payment.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Where you've been all our lives and I know you've
been here, and I'm so glad that And I hope
you guys are listening, and I hope you somebody's listening
who can utilize this information. Tell me how many Memphians
have you guys served this year?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Yeah, so this year we built twenty four In this
last year, and in the year that we're currently in,
we're going to build and sell thirty houses.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Oh my goodness, love.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
So that's a big number for us because we've hovered,
you know, around eighteen to twenty and our goal is
to get up to about thirty houses and sort of
stay there. And so it looks like we're going to
do it. We're raising a lot of money, we're in
the middle of a big campaign to help get us there,
and a lot of people are listening.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
A lot of people are listening.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
We're knocking on a lot of doors, having a lot
of conversations. Along with the fundraising, we're doing a lot
of friend raising. So every conversation isn't about asking for
a dollar or an investment at our work, it's a
little bit of what we're doing here, just kind of
helping people understand what it is we do. Dispel some myths,
like people thinking that we give the houses away. I
(07:45):
thought we letting people just ask questions about how it works.
Speaker 1 (07:48):
It works because I thought when President Jimmy Carter came,
you know, like you said in twenty sixteen, I thought
that that house that you were building, you were giving
it away.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
Well, so many people and so many people think that
Jimmy Carter helped found the organization.
Speaker 1 (08:03):
Yes, so that was one of them.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
The quick story about that is the entity was founded
down in America's Georgia.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
So by the Fullers.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
By the Fullers, Yes, Linda and Millard Fuller and in
nineteen seventy six, and as they started trying to figure
out what this whole partnership housing would look like, they
knew that, based on Christian principles, they would not charge
interest if they helped to build a house for folks,
and they would build it in partnership with them and
(08:32):
then sell it to them. But then they realized, we
need some more, you know, publicity. We need a little
help in having more people understand who we are and
knowing who we are. And as President Carter was leaving
the White House in nineteen eighty one, he returned to Americas.
They went knocking and said, do you think you might
(08:55):
help us get some notoriety for our little fledgling organization.
And over the next few years they kept having those conversations,
and by nineteen eighty four he had said, okay, I'll
give you a week a week a year, and he
went with the organization to New York. They had this
big week long event they called it the Jimmy Carter
Work Project, had thousands of volunteers out and that's when
(09:18):
a lot of people really started to take note of
the organization. Fast forward to when they did it in
Memphis and it was called the Jimmy and Rosalind Carter
Work Project because she'd been there all along, attending all
of those events year after year. And like in Memphis
when you covered it and a lot of other folks,
(09:39):
it brings the notoriety that we need. Yeah, but we
need to do better. We can do better in telling
our story, and so we'll be working on that. But
we've really just been behind the scenes, you know, cranking
it out, raising dollars, doing God's work, doing God's work.
I that's what that is. I mean.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So the people helped build their own Yes, so they're
taking part in something that that makes you feel real good.
You can tell people I built it.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I built it.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
You know what I'm saying. I'm a builder. You can
add some stuff to your resume.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
You know.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I don't think anybody would hire you right to do it.
But but you did it. You took part your hands,
helped to build your house. And then there's no.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
It's a part of the story. I don't think many
of us are out there saying, oh, yeah, we we
had a hand in building our own house.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
We watched it.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Being bright, I was just sitting there we went and
bought it and got our loan and we bought it.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
But yes, our families are getting a zero interest mortgage
for their home over thirty years.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
It's affordable.
Speaker 2 (10:46):
And they literally did help build it within thousands of
other people from the Memphis community who came out and
assisted it.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah. Beautiful, just downright beautiful. I could see why Jimmy
Carter said, no, I'm not going back on this. Is
that I found mccallums. Yes, is it.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
Pretty much the entire his entire post presidency. Wow, that's
why he gets a lot of nods for what he
did after leaving the White House.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
And that's why people think that he's the founder of it,
like I did.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
His face is most closely aligned with our organization.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
What they call the poster Child. Yeah, yeah, is that? Wow?
I'm stormy. It is the Pulse And I'm talking with
Dwayne Spencer with Habitat for Humanity, an organization that is national,
but they're also in Memphis and many of you probably
don't even know that. So for people that are listening
to this show that want to use Habitat for Humanity
(11:41):
to or find out how they can uh use you
guys to get their home, build their homes and all
of that, how what do they do? How do they
reach you?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
So obviously the easiest thing is going to our website.
Everything is there at Memphis habitat dot com, Memphis Memphis
habitat dot com. So, or if you're interested in volunteering,
if you want your church, you know, to make some
lunches for volunteers, if you want your business to come
out and spend a day hammering and nailing and helping
(12:14):
build the house of someone, It's very easy to do.
All the information is right there on the website. As
well as for folks who think they may qualify, you know,
I'm going to tell you we always share this story
that we have these orientations a couple of times every month.
People come into the orientations and they sit and we
(12:34):
start talking about, you know, what it's going to take
to become a home buyer, and then invariably somebody will say, so,
the house isn't free, like we're doing now trying to
help people understand it is not free, and invariably a
few people will get up and walk out because that's
what they have thought for all of these years, which
(12:55):
is why we as an organization have to do a
better job. And thank you Stormy for helping. Does bring
some clarity around what it is we do and how
the program works. Welcome and so the next I think
the next orientation is coming up at the main library
on the fourth February the fourth at noon, so you
can go in be on time because we kind of
(13:17):
shut the doors and don't let any other folks in.
We will tell you everything that's necessary to become a
home buyer through our program, and then of course after
that you do have to fill out the paperwork. We
underwrite the applicant like any other mortgage company. We have
a qualified loan originator on our team. She takes a
(13:39):
look at everything about how you've paid your bills or
not paid them. But one encouraging factor is we don't
put a lot of stock in a credit score. I
will tell you that the average credit score for our
buyer is somewhere around six twenty. But if you went
to a traditional mortgage company, yeah, you better be shooting
(14:01):
about seven to twenty. That's that's the going number, at
least over seven hundred, or your interest rate is going
to it's going to cost you more to buy that house,
but even at a six twenty credit score, you're still
going to get the same zero interest mortgage. Basically, what
we're looking at that's beautiful. It is we are giving
you a variable interest rate based on the history of
(14:25):
how you've paid your bills.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
So the whole time you're in that house, you're praying
you're paying principle.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Yes, but no interest and years zero interest. That's right,
principal TACs and everybody got have insurance.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Which means that you're going to pay it off sooner.
You absolutely can. Yes, absolutely you can pay well, you
have the option, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
But here's the thing. People are moving through a thirty
year mortgage. We all realize that our financial situation changes
over time.
Speaker 1 (14:55):
It improves.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
Somebody goes back to college, gets a graduate degree, and
they they earn more. We all would love to pay
a little bit more on that principle if we can,
And so yes, our home buyers are in the same situation.
If they decide that they want to pay more, then
they certainly have the option to do that and to
pay it off early. Yeah, Oh my goodness, it's certainly
(15:16):
easier for them without that interest getting in the way.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
That is so amazing And Okay, so I'm looking at
your website and seeing these beautiful faces on the front
of that website, but I'm seeing here where it says
why Habitat is needed. Twenty eight percent of Memphis residents
live below the poverty line. Yes, twelve percent of those
have incomes at fifty percent below the poverty line or
(15:42):
poverty level. And then many families in poverty they pay
more than fifty percent of income toward rent.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
Correct, that's real. So when you're in poverty, hm, it's
hard to get out of this.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yes, it's like a cycle. It is.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
So when you hear people talk about breaking the cycle
of poverty, it's a real thing. It's not just cliche,
and it is. You oftentimes feel trapped there, and often
you are, yes.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Until you figure it out. I've been there.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
I know we all been there, and Habitat is one
of those opportunities to invest in yourself, to take a chance.
I would encourage anyone who thinks they may qualify to
come and learn about the program. Many times they'll say, oh,
my credit's terrible or this or that about something in
(16:40):
their history. But we're not judging. We're here to help.
We want to offer an opportunity for people to create independence,
self reliance, and stability for their families by attaining home
ownership and reducing how much you're paying on your household expenses.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
Yeah, it's pretty amazing because I mean what you guys
do taking away the interest, You're giving folks more time
to spend with their families because if they if for
some people they have they can multiple jobs. Yeah that
sort of yeah, yeah, I mean you give them it's
like getting some semblance of freedom of what the American
(17:25):
dream is really supposed to be about. It's not supposed
to be you, you know, struggling your entire life just
to pay rent. This is holistic.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
I like to call it holistic in the sense that,
like you were saying, if one of the one of
the parents, and especially in a one parent household, is
able to if they have a job and a half,
if he or she can quit that part time job
at have to, and then they have more time at
(17:57):
home with their children, then they can invest in helping
them study. The children's grades are improved, and then there's
a better chance that that child will aspire to higher
education attainment, that sort of thing, and so stable housing
can affect education, your health.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Yeah, and you kind of clear their way too. Now
for those homes that are struggling to buy food, oh
my gosh, yes, now you can buy food.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Healthy food is what you need to be focused on.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yah. Yeah, of course. And then now your kids are
happy because they've got a place they can feel safe
in stable. Yes, stability, Yeah, that's right. So it's just
it's a win win.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
We see it all the time. I love when our
home buyers come back and they give a testimonial and
they talk about how their lives have improved via home
ownership with Habitat, and I love hearing those stories. We
have to what we call a dedication just yesterday, and
(19:04):
the mayor was there because the city had supported our work,
and he spoke as well as one of our home buyers.
And I love it when the home buyer is saying,
you know, thank you for the investment. My life with
my family has changed in all these different positive ways.
And I have one home buyer who is celebrating taking
(19:29):
a vacation. Now, think about that, he and his family
now go to the beach annually. And I think we
can assume that folks who live on lower wages or
in poverty, don't think about or have the same aspirations
that all of us do. Respite a break, you know,
(19:50):
from day to day work activities. This is a real thing,
and I love We featured this family in our newsletter
recently and we put that beautiful picture of them on
the beach because we wanted people to realize that the
families that we're working with have the same hopes and
dreams and desires that all of us have, like taking
(20:12):
a break.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
I'm looking at your Instagram and I see the pictures
where you were with Mayor Paul Young and other city
leaders here, and I see a family up there with
with keys. See people with keys? Are those new families
that are getting homes?
Speaker 2 (20:32):
Or yes, yes, those are new families. And one of
the things that my team has done so remarkably well
with putting up like a mortgage demonstration document where they
sort of symbolically sign the mortgage documents. It's it's reminding
folks that it's not a giveaway and that at some
(20:53):
point these families that you see are going to a
closing table with the closing attorney. Right, this is the
real They're going to sign those documents and then the
mortgage is going to be set up and they will
begin paying their mortgage about forty five days later. And
that's what it's all about. It's not a giveaway, it's
a hand up. Yes, it's an opportunity.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
It's teaching people to fish.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yes, that's right for themselves. And that beautiful.
Speaker 1 (21:21):
It is beautiful. I am storming you guys, thank you
for joining us on the pulse. And Dwayne Spencer of
Habitat for Humanity is here with us today. Tell me
your title with Habitat for You President and CEO. Okay, okay,
Now I'm looking at a picture of a President Carter
on your Instagram and did you go to his services?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I did go, I did, And it was such a
great honor, Stormy, it really was because other than the
folks at our headquarters in Atlanta, the Carter Center invited
seven CEOs from across the country who had a relationship
with President Carter, had hosted him and MSUs Carter in
(22:08):
their cities, and so I joined six other CEOs. We
did the rotunda service on Wednesday, had a whole, our
whole sort of private visitation with other people from the
public also in the room. But then also on Thursday,
(22:28):
we were pleasantly surprised that we were invited also to
the funeral, and that was just an amazing thing. It
was just such an honor to be in the room. Man.
There were presidents, yes, all of the former presidents, the
Congress that are, and a lot of delegates from other countries,
(22:50):
and we went up ahead of time before all of
those people got in the room and took photos of
where the president was going to be sitting.
Speaker 1 (22:59):
Fascinating because William didn't come, but but was it his
brother that came, Prince William uh Oh Charles, one of
the one of them was president at the services.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
He was just really well respected and a lot outside
of the US because of the work that he had
done in other parts of the world in regard to
the guinea worm in South America that bores its way
into people's feet who don't have proper housing or floors,
and worked on monitoring elections in many different countries where
(23:37):
free and fair elections are, you know, not a thing.
And so he just really cared about humanity and he
was such a humble servant. I think it's one of
the reasons that his presidency was probably difficult for him
because he really thought a lot with his heart, not
(23:57):
necessarily about economics and and real power politics, and so
that sometimes is a good thing, and sometimes it doesn't
work as well. When you're the leader of the free world,
you know.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
A lot of tough decisions to be made, a lot
of able to negotiate with, introduced to a lot of
information that you probably don't want to know.
Speaker 2 (24:16):
Yeah, when you're just wanting to do good out of
that office, it's complicated.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
It's complicated.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Yeah, But we appreciate all that he did in those
four years, but in particular what he contributed to the
world after he left office.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Yeah, and what he's done for Habitat for Humanity pretty
much made you guys in a household name. Yes, being
a part of an organization that is like doing literally
God's work. This is amazing that you guys do so much.
And just so you do need donations. I'm sure, oh,
I see that donate but.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Money every day nonprofit needs donations because in that in
that terminology there not profit designation. It is true, we
don't we're not in business to make any money. We
certainly need to pay our staff and the people who
work for us. But yeah, most people who contribute to
Habitat are giving directly to the program. They want to
(25:17):
support the house building and we appreciate that because it
is an investment. And then you know, we raise money
in other ways to take care of our team members.
We have a large staff, but we have two other
things I want to make sure I get to talk about.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
Okay, well tell me about that.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
So we have another program, and then we also have
another way that we bring money into the organization. So
the other program is called Aging in Place.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
Have you heard of that?
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, okay, so yes, Aging a Place is about doing
critical repairs for older adults to help them remain in
the homes that they own. Now, we only do it
for older adults sixty and over who own their homes
or they may own it outright, or they still have
a mortgage. But as long as they're paying on their
(26:04):
mortgage on time and they need our help, then we
will come in and do repairs for them. Now, they
have to be at or below about fifty percent of
the area median income. These are folks whose household income
is even less than the people that we're building for,
so they have an even greater need they're living on
(26:26):
about twelve or thirteen hundred dollars a month total. They're
older adults, and they don't have the ability to make
the repairs themselves, and we are spending on average fifteen
to eighteen thousand dollars per intervention. There's a lot of
accessibility and mobility improvements, but a lot of people also
need a new roof. And I think what has happened lately,
(26:49):
as I've done stories with April Thompson wrig lately, is
that people think we have a whole lot more money
than we do. We don't, and some people's homes are
in just such great disrepair they need forty fifty thousand
dollars worth to help, and the money that we have
(27:11):
allocated to us just doesn't allow us to spend that
kind of money. So it gets a little tricky and
a lot of people end up being disappointed, but a
whole lot of people are very grateful when we are
able to help them. And those families don't pay anything back. Wow,
it's completely free, okay. Yeah, And so aging in place
(27:31):
and we are doing about two hundred and fifty of
those a year, and we've already done about thirteen hundred
since twenty.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Sixteen, and tell me about the other one.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And the other thing is just the habitat restore. So
tell me you know about the restore? No, no, no,
I bet you somebody's out there saying I know about
the restore because it is a retail establishment. We have
two of them now. One of them is right next
to our headquarters at when Chess and Riverdale, and there
(28:01):
is a second one out in Collierville. So basically, restore
is about taking gently used merchandise from anyone who wants
to donate it to us, and then we resell it
so it could be dishes, a dinette set, a washer
and dryer, and then we resell it to the public.
(28:22):
But here's what's happened as of late Our model before
COVID was that eighty or ninety percent of the product
we got it was coming from individual households where you
just wanted to get rid of a couch because you're
going to buy a new one. After COVID, we now
have about seventy percent of our merchandise is brand new,
(28:47):
out of the box. What okay, yes, it's name brands
that you will recognize, and some may be scratched or
gently gently used, but the majority is new product. And
I'll talk.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
Anybody can shop.
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Anybody, Yes, anybody can shop there. And I'm just wonderful
it is. Uh you know, pillows, dishes, pots, pans, flooring, stoves, refrigerators,
come in and see us. It's all sorts of household
goods at discount price, march down significantly.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Oh I love that.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
I would say it's generally, you know, sixty five to
seventy percent off I would pay retail.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
Love it. Yeah, Well, thank you mister Spencer for stopping by.
Presidents and CEO of Habitat for Humanity ladies and gentlemen,
Dwayne Spencer, thank you so much for coming by. Thanks all,
this is this is amazing, y'all. We've got a jewel
of an organization in our community. Uh it is Habitat
for Humanity of Greater Memphis. Y'all. They're doing amazing work,
(29:52):
doing God's work. Thank you again for sharing your story. Now,
for people that want to get in touch with you,
I know they can go to Memphis Habitat dot com.
But but other ways can they reach you or find you?
Speaker 2 (30:03):
They can call our office seven six one for seven
seven to one and if someone wants to just email
me directly. When you go to the website and you
go under the staff, there is under my photo. You
can just click that and you can send me an
email and just ask me whatever you like to know. Okay,
I'd love to hear from whoever is interested in learning more.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Beautiful All right, y'all, Well there you go. It is
the pulse. I am Stormy, keeping our fingertips on the
pulse of our community. Man. I love to share stories
like this with you. Oh okay, and you got a
good one today, So thank you again. President CEO Dwayne Spencer, y'all,
give it up, give it up, Thank you storm Thank
you so much for coming by. We appreciate you so
very much. And yeah, I'm going to do it for
(30:48):
the show. Guys. We'll see you next week, same time,
same station. God bless you have a great week.
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