Habitat for Humanity is leaving its mark on Kendall-Whittier

Photography by Mark Brown (wall raising)
and Chad Hoffman of Habitat for Humanity

Wearing spirit t-shirts and Hilti-red hardhats, members of four Tulsa congregations—Cedar Ridge Christian, First Baptist, St. Andrew Baptist, and our own First Presbyterian—assembled on the ground floor of another dream house. One lot up from the corner of Archer Street and Birmingham Place, Habitat for Humanity continues its campaign in Kendall-Whittier.

Add the future home of Tung Pi and Cing Man to the already 30 Habitat projects in Kendall-Whittier, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Tulsa, which is in revival. Another 35 to 40 houses will be built there, and in adjoining Crutchfield, by next June.

“If the walls could talk,” said Deron Spoo, pastor of First Baptist, “imagine the stories they’d tell.”

The story of Tung Pi is one of exodus. A decade ago, he and his wife began a journey that would ultimately end in Tulsa, among the growing community of Burmese immigrants. Tung Pi, a technician at Whirlpool, used to worry about having enough to eat. Now he’ll have a home on a lot with ample enough room for his garden of squash and peppers.

“God likes to see all of His people living in peace,” said Gary Casteel, First Church member and onetime executive director of Habitat, as he read from Isaiah 52: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news.”

Cameron Walker, current Habitat director, in his pep talk to those gathered, said immigrant families spend as much as 50 to 70 percent of their earnings on housing, a number the organization hopes to cut in half. For many, the home will provide most, if not all, of their long-term equity.

“These houses are some of the best things we as churches can do in Tulsa,” said First Church’s Steve Brill. “Nothing better than somebody having a place to live.”