Habitat House Built By Football Vols Dedicated In Knoxville
Sunday, July 22, 2012
- by special report to chattanoogan.com
KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee football continues to give back to
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Throughout the summer the Vols have built different portions of Dixon's new home after her previous home was lost in a fire. Saturday's ceremony was the culmination of hard work and teamwork by every member of the football team.
"It's really special to work on this project," said defensive lineman Marlon Walls. "Some of us guys come from hard neighborhoods and bad times. So whenever you get a chance to work on something special, it's pretty good. We enjoyed it."
Dixon was thrilled and blessed to have a new home for family. Herman Lathers had the honor of handing her the key to her new front door.
"It's just wonderful to have this home," said Dixon. "For everything that we had gone through, having our house burned to the ground and not really knowing which direction you were going after that. To have it rebuilt it was a great feeling."
The Vols freshman laid the foundation, followed by the sophomores building the walls in the house. The juniors attached the siding on the house while the seniors installed the cabinets, built an exterior shed.
Building a home and helping those less fortunate is something several Vols can relate to.
"It's just awesome to give back," said defensive lineman Daniel Hood. "The first five, six years of my life, my mother, brother and lived in government housing. We wouldn't have been able to make it without someone else giving back at the time. So, having the chance to give back to someone else is just incredible."
Through Habitat for Humanity, the family will work to pay off the house through sweat equity. The family was presented with several other special discounts and offers through Habitat for Humanity.
(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)