The experience of working on a team has helped the recent college graduate grow professionally. “I hadn’t had a lot of experience working in the field with other teammates,” he says. “This has really helped me to hone my leadership and management skills.”

Whenever he has the opportunity, Ryan is happy to share his own story with future homeowners and offer words of encouragement as they build. “I think it helps our connection, my being able to say I’ve been through the whole process before and my family built a house, they still live there, and it’s given us these opportunities now and in the future,” he says.  

A strong foundation

Before their Habitat home, Ryan’s family moved often. The family lived overseas for a period of time doing missionary work and were unable to find affordable housing upon their return.

Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula, which includes East Jefferson County, is known for its scenic coastal areas, forests and mountains. The area’s housing market is highly competitive and expensive. That’s why Ryan’s family decided to apply to Habitat. “Even renting is really difficult here because many houses that are available are snatched up within a week, or even a few days, because the demand is so great,” Ryan says.

Having a stable home has helped Ryan and his three siblings thrive. “It helped me psychologically to think it’s OK to relax and make friends and be open to people,” he says. Ryan’s parents also were able to develop deeper roots in the community. His father is a pastor at a local church, and his mother works as a high school administrator.

A call to service

It was Ryan’s father who first learned about the AmeriCorps role and shared it with his son. As a pastor, he’d given blessings at Habitat house dedications ever since his own family built their home. When he learned about Habitat’s AmeriCorps program and the open position, he thought Ryan might be the perfect fit. “It only took me about a day to consider it, and I thought ‘Hey, this is just what I want to do,’” Ryan says.

His family’s history with Habitat and his heart for service has helped Ryan flourish as a construction volunteer lead. “The way he interacts with the homeowners, it’s just with this extra level of understanding and kindness,” says Amy Howard, Habitat East Jefferson County’s volunteer outreach and advocacy manager.

As he plans his next steps, Ryan hopes to incorporate service into whatever career path he chooses. “To have my occupation affect others in a positive way is really meaningful,” he says.

Built to last

The Cotton Groves development is a collaborative effort led by Habitat Collin County, the City of McKinney and McKinney Community Development Corporation, as well as a host of other public and private organizations

The shipping containers being used as frames for the Cotton Groves townhomes are known as “one-trippers,” having only been put into service once before being sold. Each home will consist of four shipping containers. Two containers will be welded together for the first floor and two more welded and stacked on top for the second floor. Habitat Collin County chose to work with the containers because the material was cost efficient and required less construction time.

The shipping containers are waterproof and resistant to high winds, and their original bamboo floors will be preserved. The finished homes will be painted with durable, marine-grade paint, and solar panels will be installed on their roofs to help lower monthly utility costs. “The maintenance will be minimal, and they’re beautiful,” says Celeste. “They look so cool; they’re very modern. And homeowners are very excited about it. So it’s a win-win.”

Working together for a better world

Building homes with shipping containers was uncharted territory for the affiliate, so Habitat Collin County worked closely with local officials to ensure the Cotton Groves community would become a reality. “It was an unusual project because it’s not your typical residential development project,” says Paul Grimes, McKinney’s city manager. “We had to work with staff to update and adjust some of our land use requirements, some of our regulations, when it comes to residential housing stock.” The Cotton Groves is located in an area designated as a neighborhood empowerment zone, which helped lower project costs by offsetting building permit fees.

“We’re trying to be creative in all the different ways, and there’s a number of different strategies or avenues and programs and tools that we can bring to bear to try to help with the affordable housing issue that we’re seeing all around the country and certainly in our community,” Paul says. “This project was for us an obvious one that could break the mold and look for a new and creative way for us to be able to bring good, safe, quality, affordable housing to our community.”

Here comes the sun

Latonia has waited years for repairs to be made to her apartment. “But if it’s not fixed by now, they’re not going to fix it,” says the mother of two, who works as an early childhood educator. Soon, she’ll move into a townhome at the Cotton Groves where she will pay an affordable mortgage that is less than what she currently pays in rent.

Latonia can’t wait to experience the convenience of parking her hybrid vehicle in her carport and being able to plug it in to an electrical outlet installed especially for charging cars. She also wants to tackle baking projects with her 21-year-old daughter, Anaiya, in their new kitchen, and the whole family, including her son, 16-year-old Jajuan, is looking forward to enjoying the second-story deck. “My daughter and I, we love to just be outside and soak up the sun,” says Latonia. “And she’s really into looking at the clouds and taking different photos of nature. But we’re very interested — my son, my daughter and I — in sitting on our deck upstairs and being able to watch the planes land and take off since we’ll be close to the airport.”

Thirty-four other families like Latonia’s will move into the Cotton Groves community, which will also include an amenity center and playground. The amenity center will feature a computer lab to ensure residents have access to technology, and local organizations will host health clinics and an afterschool program in the center as well. Residents will also be able to gather at the amenity center for social opportunities, fitness classes, shopping at a mobile farmers market and more.

Latonia wants to use her skills as an educator to help out in the local community. “I just feel like there’s things that I could offer in that community room for the people who live in my neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods,” she says.

“That was our whole point when we did this,” says Celeste. “We wanted to build a connected community.”

Walk through the Cotton Groves with this Habitat Collin County video featuring a 3D rendering of the innovative future community. Learn more about Habitat’s Cars for Homes, which provided funding for this work.