Gloria Williams found joy in seeing her hard work grow. She showed WFAA her garden.
“All of this is from Joppa Momma’s Farm. That’s ginger,” said Williams.
Twenty-one years ago, she was uprooted from her home in New Orleans.
“Look out the window with the flashlight, and all you can see is the water, the light on the water waving,” said Williams.
Hurricane Katrina forced Williams to come to Dallas. After the storm, her family went back home, but she stayed.
“One day, I opened a newspaper, and it was an ad in the paper Habitat Homes. So, I applied, and here I am,” said Williams. “It was rural when I first got here.”
For the past 19 years, she’s lived in Joppa in a home built by the Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity. The historic Joppa neighborhood is a Freedman’s Town located in southeast Dallas.
“We were able to be here and make it without anyone,” said Williams. “Habitat has made our life easy and we appreciate it.”
Over the past two decades, they’ve built over 150 homes in Joppa.
“It’s been a major change since I’ve been here in five years,” said Edward Boyd, Kingdom Builders Church Senior Pastor. “You’re kind of seeing the community come alive… So, rebuilding the images really helps change the morale in the community.”
Each day this week, Habitat for Humanity has been returning to the homes built to provide repairs and to repaint.
“Once upon a time like this, it you know, we were forgotten. But to be resurrected like the Lord. Amen. You know, it’s just a blessing,” said Boyd.
It’s a blessing that keeps giving.
“A whole bunch of people now can afford a home,” said Williams. “It makes you want to help others and do the same thing and that’s what it’s about. I’m glad that you were here to help us.”
Rock the Block ends on Saturday with a Block Party for the entire community. It takes place at South Central Park in Joppa from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.