Friendly face wins homeowner lottery

Upon entering the Navarre Wal-Mart, shoppers are greeted with a friendly face.

Smiling brightly, Mary Salter welcomes you to the store.

"Good morning, how are you?"

Though she occasionally needs a cane to aid her mobility, at 61, Mary is in pretty good shape. For 19 years, she's lived in a small, mobile trailer on Verano Street. It's not handicap-friendly, but Mary made do.

"I would pray to have a nice little house," said Mary, who also questioned her safety in the trailer in the event of a major storm.

Then someone suggested she apply for a Habitat house, built by the Pensacola Habitat for Humanity. The nonprofit program is not a give-away program. Homes are built using donations and volunteer labor and sold to qualified families at cost through a no-interest mortgage. 

For more on this story, see the May 27 issue of the Navarre Press or subscribe online.