Carl and Carolyn live a quiet, yet hectic, life with their twelve children. Carl has worked in the warehouse for AmeriQual for the last 9 years, while Carolyn currently works as a hotel supervisor at the Holiday Inn. When they aren’t working, they are busy dashing their children off to various after school activities, including cheerleading and sports practice. As a family, they love to go out to dinner together at a local buffet. Carl and Carolyn are devoted to their family and want to provide for their children in every way possible.

Carl and Carolyn currently live in a small, rented house. They are looking forward to owning their first house and having more space for their children. Six of their boys share a room together and four of their girls share a room, so they are ready for the day when their kids can have a space of their own and a yard in which they can play together.

Carl and Carolyn first learned about Habitat through their own research, seeking ways to better the lives of their children. It has been a long journey to get to this point, but they are thankful for the experience and the opportunities they’ve had to help others who are going through the same process. They both participate in Habitat builds every Saturday and on Wednesdays when they aren’t working. Through the classes they’ve taken and the hands-on experience they’ve received on the worksite, they are ready to tackle any projects that come up at their future house. Carolyn and Carl have also greatly enjoyed the chance to get to know others in the community through their volunteer time, and Carl loves to talk about football and the Colts with anyone who will listen.

While they still have more work ahead before they can one day set foot in their new home, they know it will all be worth it when that day finally comes. Carl and Carolyn are the definition of perseverance, having started this process four years ago and never getting deterred by the roadblocks they encountered. “Keep trying and keep putting in the work. Always try. Don’t feel like you can’t,” Carolyn says. It’s a motto she’s lived by her entire life and applies it to every situation she encounters.

Carolyn and Carl are extremely grateful to Habitat and to their sponsors for making home ownership a possibility. Carl shares, “I’m happy to have an opportunity to be in a position to have our own house…it’s a blessing.” He and Carolyn also look forward to the day when they can take the family to a beach somewhere and let their children experience the ocean for the first time, something Carolyn loved to do with her family when she was a child. Before the frames go up on their new house, one of their daughters wants to write a few Bible scriptures and the names of everyone in the family on the wood so that this experience will forever be written on the walls of their new home.