Alumnus becomes Habitat head

UNC graduate Jonathan Reckford, 42, has dabbled in the Wall Street world. He has coached the Korean national rowing team and worked for the Olympic organizing committee during the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

But he could be facing his biggest job yet. As the new CEO of Habitat for Humanity, a non-profit Christian housing ministry, Reckford began his first official week of work Wednesday in the midst of the nation's worst natural disaster.

Reckford spoke Friday about his reasons for joining Habitat and the challenges ahead.

 

Q: What drew you to Habitat for Humanity after your experiences on Wall Street and working with the Olympics organizing committee?

A: "I was so excited about Habitat. My wife and I had volunteered for Habitat. One of the things I like is it's a hand up rather than a hand down. It's partnering with people to give them the opportunity to own their own home. It builds hope and dignity rather than dependency. And we're a volunteer-based organization. I've seen such transformation in the lives of people who end up helping us build the home."

Q: What kind of changes do you hope to make to Habitat for Humanity?

A: "I think the biggest change that is thrust upon us is we are trying to respond in an unprecedented way to Hurricane Katrina. We are just in the midst of trying to rebuild 35,000 homes in tsunami-affected areas. And we are trying to put together a huge response to Hurricane Katrina.

"But one of our hopes is that Habitat can be, in addition to building enormous numbers of homes, we want to also increasingly partner with others to accelerate our impact on this overall issue of poverty housing."

 

Q: What was your initial reaction to the Hurricane Katrina disaster?

A: "Shock and sadness. The saddest part for me is that those who already need relief to begin with are the ones who suffer the most from these natural disasters, because they don't have the resources to get out or go live somewhere else.

"My reaction is just compassion for the pain and suffering of so many families."

 

Q: Do you think Hurricane Katrina exposed underlying problems with poverty in America?

A: "What I hope will be the case is that it will increase the awareness of how bad the housing situation really is in some urban areas and some of the rural areas hit by this. If it can put a spotlight on how bad things are in some of our cities, I think we have a generous and compassionate society. I think people will respond. I think that can be a good that can come out of this."

 

Q: What do you see as your organization's most significant challenge right now?

A: "I think the biggest challenge for us is to handle the speed of growth. We've been growing enormously fast. (We need to) build the depth of leadership and infrastructure to manage the growth. We're in 100 countries and an $800 billion industry - laying on top of that the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. The biggest challenge will be being able to marshal all the resources to keep our core ministry going and deal with these two disasters."

 

Q: What can the world of higher education be doing to mitigate the problems that Habitat for Humanity deals with every day?

A: "There's a greater emphasis on public and community service - in the universities now. I'm delighted to see that. These are massive challenges. The first part is instilling in students a sense of what it is to be a part of a community and a sense of social responsibility. The greatest danger in our society is rapid consumerism.

"I think UNC through its public health department makes huge contributions in terms of battling some of these issues. In the short term, the universities can be a source of thought leadership."

 

Q: What do you think is the role of public service in America?

A: "I think it's crucial. It's an enormous power when volunteers come together to do something. And it's what makes Habitat so successful.

"(Volunteerism) takes away that attitude of someone else ought to do something. The biggest lie in our culture is if you just get more stuff, you'll be happy. People are happiest when they are doing something useful or productive in their lives."

 

Q: What do you want your legacy at Habitat for Humanity to be?

A: "My hope is - that I have some small part in moving us toward our mission of eradicating poverty housing in the world and provide service that there would be that many more families who live in safety in homes.

"Through my service we would make that much more progress (in building) safe, decent, affordable homes so every child can grow into what God intends for him or her."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.