Martha
God's Timing in Martha Nance's Life
Written by Florence "DeeDee" Riffe
The first thing you notice when you meet Martha Nance is self-confidence. Next is intelligence, manifested in articulate expression of her thoughts. Homelessness clearly isn't what you would expect from a mother with such personal gifts and a business administration degree from New York University. But it happened in a story that is unique, as well as cushioned with silver linings, on the route to Habitat homeownership.
Soon after graduation from NYU, Martha had her first son Adrian, now age 26, and headed for Atlanta to build a life. After a brief stint at the Internal Revenue Service ("I hated it," she said), she carved out a niche career: designing incentive vacation packages in a sales training program ("I loved it," she said). Thirteen years later, she relocated-briefly-to Durham, where she had visited family over the years. Next was St. Petersburg, where she resumed her vacation-creation magic for Caesar's Casinos, followed by another return to Durham.
Then at age 41, the impossible happened. She became pregnant. "I had been told for years that I could never have another baby," she said, recounting the pregnancy that required six months of bed rest. Her employer promptly fired her. There went the paycheck, followed by her home and seemingly worst of all-her self-confidence. "But losing my self-reliance opened the door to reliance on God," she said, as she recited a litany of Methodist churches that housed her at night before son Alex was born in 2005.
Social workers at the birthing unit had sent Martha to the Baby Love program at Lincoln Community Health Center. From there she was referred to the Interfaith Hospitality Network. "Through IHN, I met my United Methodist friends, and they are wonderful people," she said, explaining that most of the churches that provided a bed, transportation and meals were Methodist. (She says she told her story at so many Methodist churches in Durham that many people who read this article will remember her.)
As Martha got her feet back on the ground, got a job (at this writing she is a Financial Care Counselor at Duke's Lenox Baker Children's Hospital) and an apartment, a sister-in-law mentioned Habitat for Humanity and urged Martha to apply. After much coaxing, Martha completed the application and took it to the Habitat offices in Trinity Methodist Church, where she met development staffer Roxanne Little Hall.
After Martha was notified of her selection and had chosen a lot on Main Street for the build, Roxanne revealed the sponsor-the Durham District of the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, the very people who had come to Martha's rescue years earlier. "God's got a plan," Martha said. "His timing is perfect. I loved the reunions with all my Methodist friends during construction," she said.
March 6, 2010, four days after Alex's fifth birthday, the home was dedicated in a service that included a Litany of Life that Martha wrote. "In Your timing Lord, you have provided for the Nance family home to glorify You!" reads the most summary of the lines. Amen.
This is one of the 25 stories included in Habitat of Durham's 25th anniversary history book, Building Hope Equity: 25 Years With Habitat for Humanity in Durham, NC. The book was written by DeeDee Riffe and designed and produced by Linda Barnett as their gift to Habitat of Durham. To learn how you can purchase this book and support Habitat of Durham's mission, click here.
