PROFILE - Ebere Nwoji

Hard work and gratitude were the keys to success for Ebere Nwoji, who graduated from The Carying Place in 2007, came back in 2008 as a volunteer, and now has moved her family into their own beautiful home, through the Habitat for Humanity program.

Ebere emigrated to Cary from Nigeria in 2006. Devastated when her husband left her, she applied for a visa to the United States. Her name was placed in a lottery, and her chances were slim. When she won the lottery, her mind was made up. She packed up her two year old son, Udo, and a few belongings and got on a plane. She was pregnant at the time with her beautiful daughter, Chi Chi, who turned 4 in February. She had $700 and a lot of hope.

She quickly got a job at the Cary Kmart, stayed briefly with another lady from Nigeria in a one-bedroom apartment, then in a motel for a while until she heard about The Carying Place.

Her Support Partners befriended her; the Child Care Coordinators and volunteers fell in love with Udo and Chi Chi, and Ebere gratefully worked hard to succeed. She was encouraged to take a second job, because she couldn’t get enough hours at the Kmart. She started working at Wendy’s and within about three weeks, she was promoted to a shift supervisor. She is now one of the Assistant Managers. She doesn’t mind getting to her job at 5 or 5:30 a.m. and working hard while there. “Where I’m from, it’s hard to make money,” she said. “Every kid here can get what they want. With my kids, if they want something, I want them to understand it is not easy to get stuff.”

After working at Wendy’s for a year or so, she noticed a customer who was waiting to meet someone, and struck up a conversation with her. It turned out she was meeting to discuss a Habitat home. Ebere told her she was interested in the program. She immediately called [Carying Place Program Manager] Annie Graham and asked if she had heard of Habitat for Humanity. Within a couple of days, Annie had made a referral. After one month, Ebere was accepted.
“They asked me why I wanted to do it,” she said. “I told them because I want my kids to have space where they can play. They said that was a good enough reason, and they accepted me.”

Habitat homeowners are required to put in 400 hours of work. Ebere went every Saturday and Sunday, paying for childcare for her children, for over six months. Wendy’s was flexible and allowed her to take weekdays off and work weekends, but the number of hours still came out the same.

All the work and sacrifice was worth it, she says. Her house payment is now less than the rent she paid on the small, two-bedroom apartment where she had lived. She also has a sense of accomplishment. For example, one of her jobs was putting the siding on the front of the house. “Now when I come out on my porch, I say, ‘I did this,’ “ she said.

Her experience as a support partner has taught her that not everyone is willing to work for what they have. “Some people think you are getting into their business, they don’t want to work. They don’t want to think about where their money is going before they spend it. But to me it is easy,” she said. “Even today, I have to analyze everything before I spend money. . . .
“Life is not always fair,” she added. “Some people in Nigeria don’t even have food to eat.”

Ebere is an inspiration to the Carying Place families she works with. She is happy to give back to the program that has given her so much.

“For somebody to give you a place to stay for four months, it’s not that much, but it’s a lot,” she said.
The Carying Place gave Ebere, Udo and Chi Chi more than just a place to stay for four months. “The Carying Place is my family,” she said. “I love coming here.”