Debra Ferguson moved in with her son years ago, and over time, she has witnessed neighboring homes get boarded up and go vacant.
“A lot of things they’ve just let go. That’s why the houses are like they are now and people don’t have nowhere to live,” says Ferguson.
That’s a concern she has for her son’s prized possession.
“He loves his house and he tries to do whatever he cans to it but he aint got no money like that,” says Ferguson.
The Habitat for Humanity is relieving the family of that worry. Their home is one of 26 low income Portland homes the organization is repairing this month.
“It’s gladly appreciated because a lot of people they don’t pay no attention to us,” says Ferguson.
Volunteers are helping to make it happen.
“Volunteerism is at the heart of habitat. It's at the heart of our mission. We bring people together to build community and hope. Volunteering helps keep all of our repairs affordable. It helps keep our house builds affordable,” says Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville’s Trish Tobbe.
University of Louisville football players spent Saturday morning, cleaning and repairing the Ferguson home’s gutter, downspout, exteriorS and fencing. All of these minor issues that could have become major problems.
“Lower income families struggle to take care of things because they are so busy trying to make ends meet,” says senior defensive lineman Derek Dorsey.
Dorsey has spent years giving back with his teammates from youth camps to hospital visits, but for him there’s something special about getting his hands dirty.
“It’s just getting hands on to give back rather than just visiting and actually just doing something to give back. I think that’s what really motivates a lot of these guys and everyone wants to give back and pretty much say thank you to the city that’s done so much,” says Dorsey.
One of the newest players, incoming defensive end freshman, Victoine Brown II, has already learned how important community service is in the Cardinal family.
“A team that doesn’t give back to the community means that the team doesn’t care about the community and obviously this team definitely cares about the community. As you see us out here sweating after having a hard workout yesterday and this whole week but we decided to help everyone who supports us so we are just giving back,” says Brown.
For the Cardinals, being a team doesn’t stop once they are off the field.
“You have to be a team. You have to be coordinated, accurate because you’re working to provide for someone else so you want to make sure everything is right,” says Dorsey. “It shows a lot about character and what type of people are on this team and you want guys around you that do care that you can count on that are dependable.”
The Habitat for humanity will complete two more home repairs in Portland next week.