Writtten By: Matthew Romsa – Corporate Development Officer, Donated Products
When I went to meet Sally Murphy at her home at Eskaton Village in Carmichael to interview her about her involvement with Habitat for Humanity, she greeted me with a warm smile and friendly hello, as she always does. When I met her for the first time, I could immediately tell that Sally has a genuine interest in helping others. I have always found her to incredibly organized, detailed and most importantly, kind. She mentioned she’s been supporting Habitat for about 35 years, ever since Jimmy Carter got involved, and she became a regular donor shortly after she became familiar with the organization. She has told me countless times how important she thinks the mission is.
She lived in Saratoga for a while when she was younger, and her church group was able to take part in a Habitat for Humanity event. She said the kids came back to the church with big smiles on their faces, which got her even more excited about the organization. She’s been receiving Lighthouse magazine for years and she has always found it to be very informative. She loves reading about how far reaching the organization is and how many countries we serve in.
During the course of our conversation, I wanted to find out why Habitat’s mission resonated with her so deeply. She responded by saying, “Having a safe, clean place to live, everyone has a right to that. I see all these homeless people parked on the street and that’s where they live! That’s just gotta be wrong.”
Sally appreciates the relationship she has with the Greater Sacramento affiliate. “Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento has been a lifesaver for me,” she said. “Every time someone moves in, they bring all of their stuff with them and think they’ll be able to lay it out perfectly, and it ends up not fitting in the space that they have at Eskaton.” She loves being able to donate furniture to the ReStore, because she knows it will provide comfort for a new owner in their home, rather than being thrown away in the landfill. Sally has taken on the role of organizing “garage sales” for any unwanted furniture. The money she makes from these sales goes right into the activities and programming at Eskaton Carmichael. Whatever she doesn’t sell at her garage sales, she donates to us.
Over the past year, Sally has organized several donations from Eskaton, which has resulted in thousands of dollars in funds for Habitat.
Just before I left, we were talking about some family pictures and special pieces of furniture, and I commented on how nice and cozy Sally’s place is. She responded by saying, “You know, it’s not a huge mansion, but it’s comfortable, and I feel good about calling it my home.” I think Sally is drawn to Habitat’s mission because she firmly believes everyone has a right to be able to say those exact words.
During Older Americans month, we want to take a moment to recognize Sally and all of the other older Americans who support us with their time, financial contributions and incredibly hard work! Habitat for Humanity has a much stronger impact because of truly kindhearted folks like Sally.
