“There are lots of prayers being built into the walls of this house,” said Sister Carolyn Capuano as she led a prayer for a group of volunteers preparing to build a home on August 4, 2023.
The group that day consisted of parishioners from St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Canton, staff from Habitat for Humanity East Central Ohio, and—standing near the foundation of their future home in hardhats and work boots—Ronnie “Drew” Dykes and Aysha Mathis, parents to three young boys and lifelong Canton residents. During the next several months, Drew and Aysha would put many hours of work into their future home, alongside volunteers from across the Stark County deanery, including members of St. Paul Parish in North Canton, Holy Spirit Parish in Uniontown, and St. Francis of Assisi and St. Michael the Archangel parishes in Canton.
“It’s a really big blessing for us,” said Aysha. “I’m just glad that I’m able to provide a safe, nice foundation for my children—and my man.”
Aysha first applied for a build through Habitat for Humanity nearly 10 years ago but was denied due to an outstanding traffic fine and financial instability. Habitat for Humanity wants the families it serves to be able to succeed long-term, and if the applicants do not have a reasonable degree of financial security, home payments could become an even greater burden for them and cause them to go into bankruptcy and potentially lose their houses.
Although she was disappointed to be denied the first time, Aysha decided to give it another shot, now that she and her husband are in a more stable position.
“A year or two ago … I applied, and when they approved me, you should’ve seen me,” Aysha said with a laugh. “I was shouting, I was like, ‘Thank you, Jesus!’”
St. Michael the Archangel Parish has been working with Habitat for Humanity for the past 12 years, building homes for local families. This particular build, however, represented a new chapter in the program’s history because of the other parishes that teamed up with them for what they called the “Stark County Catholic Community Build.”
Sister Carolyn said this new collective initiative was organized in honor of St. Michael the Archangel’s 70th anniversary celebrations in 2023.
“The invitation to multiple parishes to all work alongside [each other] hopefully exemplifies a more collaborative outreach,” she said.
They choose to partner with Habitat for Humanity because of the organization’s commitment to building a “ladder” to help people escape the clutches of cyclical poverty. As such, Habitat for Humanity trains the future owners of a home in the essential construction and financial skills they will need to maintain the house and eventually pay off their loan.
“It’s really this big cycle of community investment that makes this a beautiful picture of the best of humanity,” said Kevin Miller, director of communications for Habitat for Humanity East Central Ohio. “Families invest in what this is and give that sweat equity and invest that in their homes, and then when they purchase their homes, all those mortgage payments at zero percent interest go right back into funding more homebuilding and work.”
Volunteer labor also helps keep the costs lower for families, and, with a zero percent interest rate, the families do not have to worry about the sky-high interest rates that are often the only ones they would qualify for.
“It’s a hand up, not a handout,” Sister Carolyn said.
But most importantly, there will be no question about who owns the home—the Mathis family. Habitat for Humanity and parishioners from the Stark County Deanery may have helped them build it, but the Mathises can take pride in the fact that they paid for their home and even helped raise it up from the ground.
The Mathis house is part of a larger revitalization effort taking place in the neighborhood. Habitat for Humanity is also providing renovations for other houses on the street, as well as a playground.
The first day of volunteer work, August 4, was manned by volunteers from St. Michael the Archangel Parish. Participating parishes cycled through volunteer days, giving each parish an equal opportunity to contribute labor throughout the construction.
While the labor was perhaps the most visible part of the effort, there were many ways for parishioners to contribute to the build. Catholics could donate funds as well as tools to a collection “toolbox.” But perhaps most essential—especially for those who were unable to donate time, money or tools—was prayer.
When Sister Carolyn said that prayers were being built into the walls of the home, she was not just being metaphorical. Before Habitat for Humanity broke ground on the Mathis family’s build, parishioners wrote prayers, well wishes and messages of support into the beams that formed the home’s superstructure.
The whole Mathis family was ecstatic to begin this new chapter of their lives. Aysha said her three boys keep asking if they can help out on the build.
“I said: ‘You’re not old enough, but you’re going to be here one day. It’s coming,’” Aysha recalled. “Hopefully we can have our Christmas here!”
Where once there was nothing but a hole in the ground, there is now a home.
On November 30, 2023, dozens of people—including members of Aysha’s and Drew’s families, priests and parishioners from the Stark County Deanery who volunteered on the build, and team members from Habitat for Humanity East Central Ohio—gathered in the Mathises’ basement to celebrate a job well done, with Bishop David Bonnar’s blessing of the home.
“I’m a crier,” Aysha warned. Those in attendance laughed; most of them probably familiar with that fact by now.
“First of all, I’d like to thank the Lord above for blessing my family [with] this beautiful home,” she continued. “To my wonderful, hardworking sponsors—the Catholic community—I appreciate every one of [you]. You didn’t have to volunteer [your] time, but you did, as we conquered this whole home.”
Drew and Aysha also thanked those who had prayed for them, and made sure to thank each member of the Habitat for Humanity team individually for their contributions. They also thanked Aysha’s grandmother, who opened her home to the Mathis family while they completed work on the house—”fur-babies” and all.
“I did this program because I needed a foundation and stability for my family,” she continued. “I lived in the projects, apartments and other houses … [It was] time for stability, because I could not take some of the houses that I lived in. They were not up to par, but it did give us a roof over our head.”
Having made it through her speech with only one or two breaks for tears, it was time for Bishop Bonnar’s blessing.
“It’s hard to put into words what I’m feeling today,” said Bishop Bonnar. “I think what makes this day so special is the realization of a dream … and how excited we are to share in the realization of that dream with you and your family. I stand at many intersections in my ministry as a Bishop, and not all those intersections are easy. But this is one that I will never, ever forget. This is one of the greatest joys I’ve had of being a Bishop, to do what I’m about to do for you.”
Bishop Bonnar said that he was incredibly proud of the work the parishioners of Stark County put into the house, saying that the duty of the Catholic community is to be “a beacon of light and hope” and to “pass on the good news, build community [and] point the way to Jesus.”
Few attendees—if any—had dry eyes as Bishop Bonnar ceremonially handed over the keys to the home to Aysha and Drew and blessed their family, their home, and all those who had been a part of this process.
Cheering and calls of “Amen” and “Hallelujah” rang through the basement.
After the blessing, Bishop Bonnar said he looked forward to seeing the Mathis family “taking this house and making it a home, a place of warmth and belonging and strength.”
“The fact that there are Scripture passages embedded in the walls is a reminder to the family that they belong to God, they are God’s people and God is with them,” said Bishop Bonnar. “Christ needs to be the head of the house. It’s just so important that when they wake up every day, they know and feel the presence of God.”
This build was particularly deserving of pride, according to Kyle Bartzsch, Habitat for Humanity’s project manager, who said this was one of the best builds he has ever witnessed.
“The only unexpected thing is how smooth it went,” Bartzsch said. “Every single group was super helpful, wanted to be here, wanted to contribute. I wouldn’t trade this build for any other build.”
Aysha and Drew felt that the kindness and dedication of the Catholic community made a huge impact on the build.
“It’s anointed from the ground up,” Aysha said. Faith has always been a part of Aysha’s life—her mother was a pastor at Zion’s Temple Church of God in Canton.
“We had the greatest group of all time,” Drew said. “I wouldn’t have changed anything.”
Miller affirmed that Christian faith communities do indeed bring something special to Habitat for Humanity’s projects. “The Catholic community is incredibly valuable to the work of Habitat for Humanity in the ways that they bring faith and build on that,” he said. “Building on faith is an important part of this whole thing to us … keeping [faith] in the center of what we do … [It is] a constant reminder of the fact that God is working through the work of Habitat for Humanity.”
Going into the process, Drew was concerned with how his family would be perceived. “We come from totally different backgrounds from a lot of people,” Drew said. “We went through our trials and tribulations and struggles, and so just the persona of how we look, people may look at [us] and say ‘They might not be educated, they might not be able to finish this’ … We were never judged. We were accepted for who we are.”
Although there were challenges along the way—working fulltime jobs while putting in hours on the house, living between two homes and the usual responsibilities of parenthood—Aysha and Drew said the build brought their family closer together. They’ve already noticed a big difference in their three boys.
“They smile a lot more,” Aysha said. “Now they have something to call their own. I think they’re really, really excited. They couldn’t wait. They asked every day.”
“From a father’s standpoint: ‘You’re gonna have your own kids one day, and you’re gonna have a family,’” Drew said. “I don’t want to feel like I failed [them] by not showing [them] how to raise a family. My kids get to see Mom and Dad in the house … they get the opportunity to continue that and create their own.”
On December 15, 2023, just a few weeks after the blessing, the Mathis family was ready to move in. Though they were not quite ready to celebrate Christmas in the house, they did get to wake up on Christmas Day together in their new home, and that was good enough.
Drew and Aysha still hadn’t adjusted to their “new normal,” but they said their boys had been decorating their rooms like crazy.
“Their rooms are looking like a disco ball,” Drew said.
As they were settling in, Drew and Aysha looked back at how they’ve changed as a result of this process.
“It makes me want to get closer to God and go to church a lot more because, without God, and without the people He placed in our lives to get through this process, I don’t know where we would be,” Aysha said.
Both said they learned a lot about patience and perseverance over the past few years—the actual build was only the last part of a long process that has led them to today. Drew said that there were many times he questioned the path they’d chosen, when the end was still out of sight. But when it was all over, it made sense, he said.
“After the house was done, and it was created and you’re able to walk in and see the hard work that you did … it made your faith escalate,” Drew said. “Sticking with God is what got me here.”
Next up on their agenda: paying off their mortgage. As Habitat for Humanity says, the Mathises received a “hand up.” They are determined to make the most of it.
