One person can make a difference
Can you think of something that happened in your childhood that impacted your life years later? For Rhoda Todd, a retired university Dean of Students living in Asheville and monthly donor to Asheville Habitat, it was going with her dad to work.
Her father moonlighted at a Savings and Loan, and she remembers holding the end of the measuring tape as she tagged along on his construction site visits. Then when she was in the 8th grade, her father built their family home and she got a front row seat to the whole process.
Imprinted with these memories, Rhoda started donating to Habitat for Humanity in the 1980s thanks to Habitat’s most famous supporter, Jimmy Carter. Volunteering wasn’t a good fit for her, so she began giving monthly so she could make an impact and help others achieve a decent, affordable place to live.
“I remember thinking at the time, there is something wrong in our value structure as a country that two people working full time have to live in substandard housing,” she said. “I remember thinking, that that’s not the way it should be.”
Monthly donations to Habitat were just the beginning of Rhoda’s lifelong determination to make a difference. While working at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, she wanted to prove that rent could be a fair price without breaking the bank for the builder. She did just that- she built a home and always charged tenants below market rate rent.
Rhoda retired and moved to Florida, volunteering with the Family Recommendation Committee with Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties. She even bought a home in Asheville and worked with Homeward Bound and Pisgah Legal Services to rent it to unhoused people.
“I think it’s the story of one person can make a difference,” she said.
Now living in Asheville, Rhoda has been donating monthly to Asheville Habitat for four years. She’s one of hundreds of generous individuals that help change the lives of local families. Last year, Asheville Habitat build and sold 16 homes with qualified buyers and made critical repairs to the homes of 56 families in Buncombe and Madison Counties.
If you’re interested in making a donation to help your community thrive, please visit our donation page today. You can make a one-time donation, or opt to make a recurring gift, like Rhoda. Thank you!
