MAYPORT, Fla. – Randy Brown is the youngest of 10 children. His parents had two small homes on a large piece of property in Mayport, off Alley Road.
He spent his childhood on that property. The boys slept in one small home, the girls in the other.
Hurricane Dora destroyed the boys' house in 1964, bringing the entire family together under the same roof.
In 2018, a tree fell on the family’s remaining house and cut it virtually in two.
Brown, who was supporting his daughter in medical school, could not afford to fix it and tried for a short time to keep living in it, despite a hole in the roof so large that the kitchen was unusable.
“I didn’t want to let her know or she would be like ‘Cad!’ You know how kids are,” Brown said about not wanting to worry his daughter.
He managed to buy a 24-foot camper where he spent the next six years living on the property.
It has one bedroom, a tiny kitchen and a pump for water.
“I have a pump in the backyard. I was using the sewer to get water,” said Brown. “I could survive by being in the military. They teach you how to survive.”
Brown said he just didn’t have the heart to sell the land.
“She (Brown’s mother) always wanted me to do something with the property. I promised her,” he explained. “My mother told me, if I could just pay the taxes, I would have this property.”
He said he just couldn’t give up the family home.
Then came a call from Beaches Habitat for Humanity, which has a program designed for veterans like Brown, who served six years in the Army.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Brown said of learning that as a military veteran, he qualified for the program.
Beaches Habitat for Humanity CEO Steve Gilbert explained that to qualify you have to be a Jacksonville resident for at least one year.
“You take out a mortgage, interest-free, just pay on the principal, 30 years fixed mortgage,” Gilbert said about the veteran’s home repair program.
When Beaches Habitat for Humanity inspected Brown’s storm-damaged home, it discovered the structure was beyond remodeling. That’s when Brown received another stunning offer.
They would build him a new one -- on his family’s property!
“I’m numb because I couldn’t imagine this could ever have happened to me,” said Brown when he learned about the opportunity. “They are amazing. I thank them all the time.”
For the last four months, Brown has watched his new home take shape.
From the foundation to the framing and now plumbing and electrical work, the home is nearly finished. He took us on a tour, showing us the living room and the kitchen.
“This is one of the bedrooms,” he smiled, wearing a hard hat and leading us down the hallway into what will become his bedroom. “It’s unbelievable.”
Gilbert said Brown has been at the site almost every day. He explained any Beaches Habitat for Humanity recipient is required to spend 300 hours working on their new home. It’s considered sweat equity helping the contractors and other volunteers.
Beaches Habitat for Humanity has a five- to six-person crew of trained construction experts who are paid to oversee the builds and remodels.
The rest are volunteers, who either work in the construction industry and bring their expertise with them to the job site, or are novices with no building experience, but want to help and to learn.
All contributions are welcome, said Gilbert.
In addition to the residency requirement, Beaches Habitat for Humanity also offers financial training support to its clients, so they do not have trouble managing how to pay their mortgage.
“We do a lot of work on the front end so families can afford the mortgage of their house. We are very blessed to have a family support committee of volunteers. They get together once a month to work with homeowners and strategize about any challenges they have,” explained Gilbert.
Beaches Habitat for Humanity also helps senior citizens who qualify for repairs needed to their homes.
“We just finished a home repair for a senior in Atlantic Beach with a home damaged during a hurricane,” said Gilbert.
The Furyk Foundation, created by professional golfer Jim Furyk and his wife, Tabitha, also donates a portion of the money it raises each year to Beaches Habitat for Humanity, which helped retro fit a beaches home with the equipment needed for a family with a child who has special needs.
“We try to adapt to the needs of the families,” Gilbert said of the work they do in an area of the city where land is limited and expensive.
Gilbert said they just broke ground in June on 4 acres of land off Mayport Road designated as a new location to build 44 townhomes.
“We had 188 applications for 44 homes,” he said, illustrating the demand and need for affordable housing.
The homes will have three bedrooms since most of the applicants are single mothers with two children.
Beaches Habitat for Humanity serves the beaches communities west across the Intracoastal Waterway to St. Johns Bluff Road.
It always needs donations and volunteers. You can help by clicking here to donate or you can attend its next fundraiser on Monday, Oct. 21, at 6 p.m. at ABBQ in Atlantic Beach.
As for Brown, he is excited to move into his new home, which is expected to be finished by the end of the year.
He is forever grateful to Beaches Habitat for Humanity and all its volunteers for answering his prayers.
“Don’t stop praying because He sits high and looks low and He’s listening,” said Brown.