Habitat Homeowner Melissa Yost Takes Sweat Equity to a Whole New Level
The day 27-year-old Melissa Yost gave birth to her healthy baby boy, she was on the Habitat job site, helping cut trim, paint, and do whatever she could to help build her future home. She was back five days later, picking up where she left off.
For those on the sidelines, Melissa's perseverance has clearly been undaunting -- and quite humbling. But to Melissa, she equates the 300+ hours of "sweat equity" she "invested" in her new Habitat home as the final victory lap in a life long struggle against nearly insurmountable odds.
On her own since 17, Melissa's childhood has been anything but rosy. Her father abandoned her and her sister; foster care was temporary at best. Her ex-husband was abusive, but thankfully, four years ago she found the strength to leave him with her two young sons. Homeless and living at Mel Trotter, Melissa "lost everything, except my spirit ... and I was pretty close to losing that too."
Thankfully, counselors saw the dim glow in Melissa's now bright eyes, and guided her through YWCA's HEAL Program, assisting with transitional housing and eventually securing an apartment. Joanne Powell with the YWCA encouraged Melissa to return to school, where she completed Certified Nursing Assistant courses and was hired in the Skilled Nursing and End Stage unit at Holland Homes.
With a job, Melissa's future looked brighter - until, with her new income, she over qualified for her Section 8 housing. Enter Habitat for Humanity of Kent County, and her advocate, Rosa. Melissa submitted her application to Habitat, and "kept on top of everything. I had achieved good credit, was working, and was ready to start logging sweat equity hours as I was 7 months pregnant and I needed to secure better housing for my family."
Fortunately, in celebration of its upcoming 25th anniversary, Habitat for Humanity of Kent County was "fast tracking" the commemorative Financial Community Build with sponsors Byron Bank, Chase, Chemical Bank, Assurance Home Finance, Macatawa Bank, Reliable Auto Finance, Unified Title and Settlement, Fifth Third Bank, Kent Commerce Bank, Mercantile Bank, Comerica Bank, Founders Bank and Trust, Irwin Union Bank, Northpointe Bank, and United Bank. With Melissa's due date drawing near, the "fast track" house was ideal.
"I think the concept of 'sweat equity' is so important to the mission and success of Habitat for Humanity," notes Melissa. "Not only did I get to see how the house was built and learn how to maintain it, I met great people in the process. The volunteers working on my house were awesome. Plus, the fact that they saw me there working along side of them really made an impact. Several volunteers even came to my home dedication."
Dave Zimmermann, Site Supervisor for Melissa's home, echoes Melissa's sentiments. "Countless volunteers have told me how touched they were to build a house WITH Melissa, not for her. There is a huge difference in these like sounding words. I wish Melissa could teach a class on sweat equity. She was always the first one to jump in and climb a ladder, crawl under something, get her hands dirty, ... even scale the roof. And she was back 5 days after giving birth. Her goal was to finish her sweat equity commitment while on maternity leave, and there was nothing that was going to stop her. My challenge was to slow her down - especially while she was still pregnant. That kind of motivation inspired us all. I've had financial sponsors of the house come up and tell me how she touched their lives. It was a joy to work with her and we are all so proud of Melissa."
Looking around the room at Melissa's home dedication, it was clear from the tears on the faces of her family, friends, Holland Home co-workers, YWCA mentors, fellow volunteers, and Habitat staff and board members, that Melissa Yost has a bright future.
As for her little boys, Robert is excited to have his own room, a backyard to explore, and a new school to look forward to. And despite the less than stable sleep hours an infant keeps, Melissa rests well at night, knowing she is safe, secure, and building equity for her children's future. "I have been blessed for my hardwork, and every bit of it has been worth it beyond any words I can share."
