It had been a year since Ernie, an outgoing 87-year-old U.S. Army veteran, had been outside on his own. The entrance to his home for the last 50 years — the one he had shared with his late wife and raised his children in — could not accommodate the wheelchair he now used. His family would carry him, and then his wheelchair, down the steps and to their car to get to medical appointments. The appointments were the only time he left the house.

After months of this kind of physical isolation, and months of encouragement from his social worker, Ernie applied for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Lowell’s Critical Home Repair Program. The program is designed to improve residents’ quality of life through repairs that help them increase their independence and improve their safety. At Ernie’s home, volunteers planned to erect a ramp so he could spend time outside on the days he didn’t have doctor’s appointments — and would have an easier time of getting to the car on days when he did.

Before they could get to work, members of the volunteer crew first had to move Ernie’s car out of the way. The beige 2005 Mercury Sable had been sitting untouched in the driveway, and no one was sure if it even had enough power to run.

“It started, but then it conked out,” Ernie says with a laugh. “So, they had to push it to the side. They even cleaned out the mouse nest and acorns in the engine.” As the volunteers began working, Ernie took in the scene from his living room window. “It was just amazing watching them that day,” he says. “There were about five of them. Everyone had a job to do, and they did it in jig time.”

As he watched, he grew determined to return their kindness — and figured out exactly how he was going to do it. He would put his inactive Mercury Sable to use by donating it to Habitat’s Cars for Homes program. “It was the least I could do,” he says.

“Ernie didn’t accept help for the longest time and once he finally did, all he could think about was how he was going to use it to help someone else,” says Lisa Garvey, community outreach director for Habitat Greater Lowell. “As a proud veteran, that sense of service is just part of who he is.”

Through Cars for Homes, individuals can donate their used vehicles — including cars, motorcycles, RVs, boats, even snowmobiles — to support Habitat’s work. Depending on their condition, the vehicles are either sold at auction or to licensed direct buyers that can make repairs as needed and/or salvage parts. Proceeds from the sale of the vehicle are donated to Habitat — with the majority invested in the affiliate and community where the car is donated. For the past five years, vehicle donations through the Cars for Home program have provided more than $21 million for participating Habitat affiliates, helping more families achieve the stability and security of affordable homeownership.

For Ernie, Cars for Homes offered the perfect solution — both to make an impact and lift a weight. Although he was no longer driving the car, it was still costing him. “I’m saving a lot of money on insurance and registration fees,” he says. “It’s a relief.”

After sorting out his title, Lisa helped Ernie schedule the donation online. Soon after, the car was picked up from his home, and, once the sale was complete, the proceeds were donated to Habitat Greater Lowell. “Working with him on this process was special because it meant so much to him to give back in some way, but he’s on a fixed income and not in a place to contribute financially,” says Lisa. “And now, his gift will allow us to assist even more wonderful people like him. It’s full circle.”

These days, when the weather’s nice, Ernie soaks up the sunshine on the landing of his ramp and chats with neighbors who pass by. Along with freedom and social connectivity, he also enjoys a sense of peace. “I feel more safe and secure. I can come in and exit my house so easily,” says Ernie. “If there is ever an emergency, I can get out with no problem. It’s the first time in over a year that I’ve been able to do that.”

Donating the car, he says, was just a small token of his gratitude for all these things. “I am happy I could pay it forward,” Ernie says.

As I turned the calendar page to close out 2020, I was reminded of how quickly time goes by. It has been 25 years now since my two daughters and I moved into our newly built Habitat home in Boise, Idaho. As I looked at the calendar, recalling our life all those years ago and reflecting on all that has happened since, memories flooded my mind.

Back then, before Habitat, I figured that homeownership would always be out of reach. In the early 1990s, my girls, Theresa and Maria, and I were living in a duplex that kept increasing in cost. We dreamed of a simple, affordable space of our own — but with the cost of rent rising right under our feet, I wasn’t sure how or if that would ever be possible.

A few months later, after picking up a brochure at church, I attended a Boise Valley Habitat home dedication ceremony held not far from our apartment. While there, I not only learned about Boise Valley Habitat’s mission, I saw it in action as a family received the keys to their home. After the ceremony, I met some of the Habitat volunteers and staff. They explained the Habitat application process and answered my questions. I left the event with a renewed sense of hope.

A year later, after an application and interview process, some of those same Boise Valley Habitat volunteers and staff members gathered at a new construction site. I met them there in the rainy February of 1995, and together we began working on my own family’s forever home.

At the time, my daughters and I didn’t know the first thing about building. Now, we look back at that time and laugh. One day, a volunteer told us how to put in the flooring, so we started pounding nails in. When he came back to check on us, he was speechless. “OK, yep,” he laughed, “that’s certainly a lot of nails!” We had been hammering in one nail about every inch when far fewer would have sufficed. (Safe to say our floor is still in place today.)

My daughters and I learned how to do many things like this — even if it wasn’t the easy way. And I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Being able to put our house together and learn how it works, how to take care of it, piece by piece, helped us understand what goes into building a house and how to take care of it once it finally became ours. At our home dedication ceremony, I said that this was “the most beautiful home in Boise.” I meant it.

That’s because, while the process of constructing our own home was special, the thing that made it beautiful was the willingness of people, some even strangers, to show up and build right alongside us.

My kids and I put in a combined 250 hours of sweat equity to qualify for our Habitat home. Family and friends were expected to put in another 250 hours. At first, I wasn’t sure how I would meet that criteria since all my family lived back in Iowa. But every Saturday at the worksite, new faces would appear, eager to spend their weekend helping my family build our dream house. Volunteers from area churches and Habitat board members came to help us build.

One day, even my coworkers surprised me by showing up to work on their day off. Neighbors brought coffee to volunteers one week and cookies the next. I was constantly overwhelmed by the goodness of people and the kindness of strangers. Over time, those strangers would form my community and my family here in Idaho.

These people and the bonds we formed are the true meaning of Habitat’s work for me. The power of Habitat’s ministry is in its people. The people who help you back up, the ones who will go out of their way for a stranger. Their selfless example made me look at life differently. It made me a more giving person. Because when someone has helped you, you just can’t help but want to help other people.

Now 25 years later, I’m retired, and my mortgage is paid off. My daughters are grown and on their own. My house is sturdy and on a single story so that I can grow older here in safety, comfort and peace.