Contact: Zack Plair

STARKVILLE, Miss.— The Shalisha Owens family hadn’t even moved the first piece of furniture into their new home before 16-year-old Decorda, the eldest of four children, started prodding his mom with a very timely question.

“When are we putting the Christmas tree up?”

Shalisha, who had moments earlier accepted the keys to her new home, built through a partnership of Mississippi State University’s Maroon Edition program and Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity, said her son “became more of a man” as he worked alongside hundreds of volunteers over the last four months to build the residence. But she said she enjoyed seeing his youthful eagerness to put the family’s mark on its new home at 104 Owens St.

“This project has really helped him grow up,” she said.

MSU and Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity dedicated the Owens’ home, the seventh annual Maroon Edition building project, on Thursday [Dec. 17]. Along with the keys, the family received a Bible, quilt, homeowner’s manual and toolkit.

Hundreds of volunteers, many of whom were MSU students, faculty and staff, helped construct the home through Maroon Edition, an initiative meant to engage incoming freshmen by challenging them to read the same book. This year’s Maroon Edition is “Same Kind of Different as Me,” by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.

MSU President Mark E. Keenum has driven the first nail in each Maroon Edition home.

“This is my favorite part,” Keenum said. “It just warms my heart to see the family receive the home and to know that so many of our faculty, staff and students took time to help make it happen.”

A single mother, Shalisha said she had lived with her four children – which also include daughters Shanautica, 14; Emerald, 9; and Jessie, 7 – in a three-bedroom apartment for the last three years. Now, as the owner of a 1,200 square-foot home with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, she said her family has more space and more privacy in the house, as well as a yard to enjoy.

“It seems like with every step of this process, I get more emotional,” she said through tears during her acceptance remarks. “I am so thankful to God for this opportunity.”

Over the last 30 years, Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity has completed 58 homes for families in need and offers 20-year, no-interest loans to recipients. All applicants go through a selection process, Executive Director Joel Downey said, and recipients must have the means to pay the mortgage, must put at least 300 “sweat equity” hours into building the home, and must agree to complete three self-improvement classes -- one of which must focus on financial literacy.

The Owens’ home was supposed to be the first on the newly christened Hope Lane, just off Douglas L. Conner Drive. Instead, the city opted to revert the corridor to its original moniker from decades ago.

Though the Owens street name doesn’t technically relate directly to Shalisha’s family, Keenum noted the serendipity.

“You’ve got a beautiful new home on your own street,” Keenum told Shalisha at the dedication. “I think that’s very appropriate.”

The Owens family will soon be getting neighbors, as work on a Habitat home sponsored by MSU’s Fraternity and Sorority Life organization continues next door. Downey said Annie Hopkins, a bus driver for the Starkville-MSU Area Rapid Transit system, could move into that home by March 2016.

For more information on the Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity, visit www.starkvillehabitat.com. Maroon Edition and other MSU volunteering information is available at www.mvc.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.