A long-time Dumfries resident, Mary Simmons has lived in Eastern Prince William County for most of her life. Her family moved to the Marumsco Acres neighborhood when she was a teen. She and a girlfriend walked up to the shopping center one summer day to listen to a band that was playing in the parking lot. It was there she met the man who would become her husband. Mary’s husband passed away fourteen years ago. She still lives in the home they shared in Dumfries and where she raised her three daughters. Her daughters now live in Pennsylvania and Florida so Mary is on her own to care for the home.
Like all of life, there have been ups and downs.
Mary has always been a hard worker, building a career in direct mail services. A supervisor at a previous company noticed her attention to detail and added quality control duties to her position. She was then assigned to do quality control for mailings that were handled separately from the others. After she had worked there for 16 years, however, the company was bought out and Mary lost her job. For two years, she was unemployed and her savings were emptied. Despite these hardships, Mary pressed on and now works for another direct mail firm in Springfield.
Habitat aims to offer some additional help.
When Mary noticed repairs were needed around her home, the quotes for the work turned out to be far beyond her means. Fortunately, a neighbor told her about repairs a mutual acquaintance of theirs had received from Habitat for Humanity. Mary decided to inquire whether Habitat for Humanity could also help her. Mary isn’t looking for a cosmetic upgrade or to redesign her home. She needs critical repairs to make her home safer and more comfortable. The sewer line needs to be fixed so that she can use the washing machine. The crumbling stoop at the entry door needs to be rebuilt. The leaking dormer windows need to be repaired. Habitat’s program lines up perfectly with Mary’s needs. We hope you’ll join us through your support of Habitat for Humanity’s home ownership and home repair programs for residents like Mary in Prince William County, Manassas and Manassas Park.