Before attending college at the University of Wisconsin, Alan and Kate both worked or volunteered in construction and were looking for ways to serve others and meet people in college.

“When I joined the campus chapter, Alan was organizing a winter break work trip to Birmingham, Alabama. I decided to go on the trip, and during the drive down, we spent the entire time talking and were pretty much always together during the week and started dating shortly after.”

After graduating, the couple got married and after moving around for a few years completing higher education degrees, they moved to North Carolina where Alan took a professor position at Elon University. Renting at first, they were eager to become homeowners themselves.

“Being able to find a community we loved with a house we could afford gave us the sense of stability and home we had not had before. We have always valued homeownership and both were privileged to grow up in loving, stable homes.”

Supporting Habitat locally has always been important to them and while they can’t get to the jobsite as often anymore, they are still making an impact as a Hope Builder monthly donors.

“For many years when we were short on money but long on time, we supported Habitat through volunteer hours. Over time, though, with children and careers advancing, we became short on time, but had more to offer financially and started making donations to Habitat. Several years ago, I realized that I wasn’t giving as much as I wanted to realized that if I set up small monthly donations, they would add up to more than I could give at once, and I also wouldn’t have to think about it. We love Habitat’s mission and approach to help individuals gain homeownership that would be out of reach otherwise.”