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File photo Kevin Campbell is shown next to a house he was working on in this 1992 photo. He is one of the founding members of Lynchburg’s Habitat for Humanity chapter. |
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By Brenda G. Clements The News & Advance When Habitat for Humanity first started in Lynchburg in 1988, Kevin Campbell would wake up in the middle of the night and worry that people would not want to help build the houses. But, only a year later, Campbell had a different problem. “I worried about how we were going to keep everyone busy and have enough jobs for everyone,” said Campbell, former executive director for the Lynchburg chapter for Habitat for Humanity and the Jubilee Family Development Center. “He wasn’t put off by problems — problems became challenges and he always had a positive outlook,” said Mary Adams, friend and current president of the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. Now, more than 10 years later, Campbell has watched the Lynchburg chapter of Habitat for Humanity become one of the most successful in the country. And now he is working with Habitat International in Americus, Ga. But Campbell’s career was on a different path before his work with Habitat began. After graduation from James Madison University, Campbell worked in accounting and auditing. But the job wasn’t fulfilling. “I wasn’t being creative, I was checking other peoples work,” said Campbell. Then, he found God. “I went to church as a child but I wouldn’t call myself a Christian,” said Campbell, who said the Christian faith started to make sense to him when he saw the Church of the Covenant helping people. The Church of Covenant, under direction of the Rev. Bev Cosby, created the Lynchburg Christian Fellowship and was very active in housing. “The Christian faith began to make sense to me when I could help people in the community,” he said. “He is an extraordinary man with extraordinary faith,” said Adams. Campbell went to work in Washington, D.C. for two years but then came back to Lynchburg and work with Kum Bah Ya, now Interfaith Outreach, as advocacy coordinator. |
Kevin Campbell
Who influenced you?
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“There were
lots of housing needs at the time in Lynchburg with no big time
solution,” said Campbell. The names were added to a three-year waiting list for the Housing Authority but Campbell said that really wasn’t doing anything to help the need. That’s when he met Adams and the idea of Habitat for Humanity first started. “We intended to look at other models,” said Campbell. “We called the regional habitat office in South Carolina and they gave a presentation for us in May 1988,” said Campbell. The group never looked at any other model because the response was overwhelming. Construction of the first house began in late 1988. And during the same time, Campbell was working on building his family. Campbell and his wife Gayle, adopted twin boys while the first house was being built. “The whole process took six months,” he said, “It takes years for some.” Campbell and his wife also have an adopted daughter, Hannah, who is 2-years-old. “My children have grown up with Habitat,” said Campbell. “He truly cares about everyone, especially his wife and children,” said Susan Carrington, friend. Although Campbell didn’t give as much time to that house has he did to other houses because of the adoption, he still remembers the dedication of the first house. “I remember sitting in the empty house the day before the dedication and was completely awed that we had actually done something this wonderful,” he said. Campbell recalls a let down after the first house because the people were disappointed they had finished it. “We had to build the momentum and keep it going from one house to the next,” said Campbell. Adams said Campbell is a natural cheerleader. “He is an encourager,” she said, “He did whatever it took, he was in charge of it but didn’t mind doing the menial work.” Adams said Campbell is inclusive about his work with Habitat. “He feels everyone’s role with Habitat is the same regardless of what they are doing,” said Adams. “I am no different from the person picking up trash or cooking the meals,” said Campbell, “We are all there for the same goal and that is to provide decent housing.” The number of Habitat houses grew every year and it has become much more than just building houses. Campbell and others saw it as a ministry of building relationships. “He thought it was important to know the families and build a relationship with the families,” said Carrington, “He knows every family, every phone number, and address of the families in the Jubilee Heights subdivision.” Campbell was executive director of the Jubilee Family Development Center when he left but the real beginning of the center came in 1992 after an eye-opening experience. Habitat for Humanity was planning to build a house at the corner of Florida Ave. and Grace St. “We told the family they were going to get a house but they refused it when we told them where it was because it was an open air drug market,” he said, “That was the first time anything like that had happened.” Campbell was faced with the problem of whether or not to build the house. The month of December 1992, 10-40 people went to that area for one hour the entire month and sang carols, said Campbell. “For that hour, the drug dealers went away,” said Campbell, “It was scary to confront those people but the police were always there and it energized the people in the neighborhood.” The house was built but Campbell knew more needed to be done for the Habitat families and children. Five years later, Campbell resigned as executive director of Habitat for Humanity and began the Jubilee Family Development Center. “I was impatient,” said Campbell, “I thought the center should be built as soon as possible and the habitat boards vision was different.” Campbell struggled with leaving Habitat for Humanity because he worried about providing for his family. After thinking about the situation for awhile, Campbell made the decision to leave rather abruptly. “I was at our sons soccer game and a friend as me if I was still with Habitat for Humanity and I didn’t hesitate when I answered, ‘Well, no I’m not,” said Campbell. And he recalls a particular moment when he realized he was doing the right thing. One of his sons wrapped a $10 bill and gave it to Campbell for his ‘gym’ — his son’s term for the center. “They have been around this giving all of their lives,” said Campbell, “But that hit home for me when he did that because they are all so young and have big hearts.” Habitat’s current executive director, Sterling Wilder, said none of the work would have been possible without Campbell’s guidance. “He knew it was important to shape lives and build houses,” said Wilder. “He is always in jeans but what he wears doesn’t matter, only what is in his heart matters.” Carrington, who is current board president of the Jubilee Board, said she is indebted to Campbell. “I am a better person for knowing and working with him,” said Carrington, “We were sorry to see him go but we talk with him every day.” The decision to leave Lynchburg was not easy for Campbell, but he knew he could do more work with other Habitat affiliates. “I have been blessed to see these organizations unfold,” said Campbell, “I may not live there but that is where my heart is and I still have work to do in Lynchburg.” |