Spartan Story: Building Homes, Building Dreams
Sandra Pearson helps people of limited means find their home sweet home.
Sandra Pearson has a case of “Habitatitis”—and she’s not afraid to spread it. For the last decade, the 1992 Eli Broad College of Business graduate has served as CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Michigan, supporting more than 60 Habitat affiliates and 50 ReStores across the state, and rarely missing a chance to invite someone to visit a Habitat construction site.
“That’s where the magic happens,” Pearson said. “A Habitat for Humanity homesite unifies us and strips us of our differences, and that might be the greatest hope for the world.”
During a 16-year career with the Michigan State Housing Development Authority, Pearson developed a passion for helping families pursue the dream of home ownership, which she believes builds strength, stability, and security for families as well as neighborhoods. Through her work, Pearson interacted regularly with Habitat for Humanity and was drawn to the Atlanta-based nonprofit’s global mission.
I was just mesmerized by this international network committed to action and with boots and hands on the ground making a real, tangible difference in people’s lives.
In 2008, Pearson shifted from Habitat partner to Habitat executive when she accepted a top post with Habitat of Michigan, one of the international organization’s most active chapters.
Since then, the second-generation Spartan—and mother of a current MSU student—has leaned heavily on her MSU business education, particularly studies in leadership, to increase the organization’s reach and impact.
Habitat is most often associated with volunteers building homes, and Habitat of Michigan builds for some 150 families each year. But the organization’s hands touch so much more. Habitat of Michigan also functions as: a social service agency, providing financial education and coaching to about 500 families annually; a mortgage lender; a retailer with its nonprofit ReStores; and a home repair company, rehabilitating about 700 homes across the state each year, particularly for veterans and seniors.
“The affiliates are the ones doing the homebuilding, volunteer coordination, and operating the ReStores. My role is to support them in whatever way possible,” said Pearson, who received the 2016 Duvernay Award from the Building Michigan Communities Conference, the state’s top honor for affordable housing and community development.
Pearson spends her days crisscrossing the state responding to affiliates’ needs, lobbying legislators, corralling new partners, visiting retail operations, and working alongside volunteers to build or repair homes.
“We’re only limited by our own capacity, and that’s something we’re building every single day here in Michigan,” said Pearson, who met her husband, Rob, a 1993 communications alumnus, as an MSU undergrad.
Traveling the state, country, and world on behalf of Habitat for Humanity, Pearson has leared that most global residents—from Detroit and Grand Rapids to Haiti and Vietnam—share the same principal desire: to craft a better life for themselves and their families.
By providing a pathway to homeownership, Habitat is helping to accomplish just that.
“That’s what motivates me every day,” she said.
It’s intense, time-consuming work, she admitted, but the energy and emotion of each Habitat house dedication make it well worth it.
“These families never thought they’d qualify for a mortgage, let alone own a home, but here they are with keys in hand,” Pearson stated. “It’s such a privilege to play a part in the journey.”
For Pearson, those moments make carrying Habitatitis a good thing.
For More: habitatmichigan.org; habitat.org
Contributing Writer(s): Daniel P. Smith
