Double the Meaning: MSU, Habitat for Humanity partner to build 12th home for local family while honoring Starkville resident
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥斞侵奚墒悠 and Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity broke ground Monday [Aug. 3] on the 12th annual Maroon Edition home.
Being built this fall by MSU and Habitat for Humanity volunteers, the home that Starkville residents Santana Turnipseed and Chadrick Robinson and their five children will call their own also has special meaning for another local family.
Located in Sunset subdivision, the home honors Matt Savage, a Starkville native who is continuing to recover from severe injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, he retired in April at the rank of Army captain after seven years of service. Savage drove the ceremonial first nail during Monday鈥檚 event.
His attorney Wayne Rogers of Birmingham, Alabama,聽made a contribution to Habitat for Humanity that the organization is in turn using to honor Savage through construction of the home, which will be Habitat鈥檚 70th home in Oktibbeha County. Rogers is a former partner of DeGaris and Rogers LLC law firm now serving as executive assistant for the Jefferson County Sheriff鈥檚 Office in Birmingham, Alabama.
鈥淲e are grateful for our Maroon Edition partnership with Habitat for Humanity and proud that for the 12th consecutive year, our students, faculty and staff are working together to help a deserving family realize the dream of home ownership,鈥 said MSU President Mark E. Keenum. 鈥淲e want our students to develop a lifelong commitment to service and to appreciate the timeless values of integrity, hard work and respect, and that鈥檚 what this building project is all about.鈥
Turnipseed works for Sitel Corp. in Starkville, and Robinson is a plumber for Brislin Inc. in Columbus. Their children are Harmony, 15; Kimora, 10; Rolando, 8; and twins Caitlyn and Chadstyn, 1.
鈥淚 have prayed for so long and can鈥檛 wait for the house to be ready. This is a dream come true,鈥 Turnipseed said. 鈥淥ur kids are so excited to decorate their own rooms, and we鈥檙e going to have our first holiday at home. I love to cook, so I鈥檓 going to be cooking up some stuff in that new kitchen,鈥 she said with a laugh.
![Attendees turn dirt during a Monday [Aug. 3] groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the 12th annual Maroon Edition home.](/sites/www.msstate.edu/files/inline-images/MaroonEdition-HabitatHouseGroundbreaking_20200803_B5W0352_half.jpg)
Turnipseed said she is thankful for the MSU and Habitat volunteers who will be dedicating their time and energy to the home construction. She plans to pay it forward as she has with previous Habitat home builds.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to being out there working hands-on with the volunteers and getting to know them,鈥 she said. 鈥淗elping each other is what it鈥檚 all about.鈥
The Habitat home is part of the service-learning component of the Maroon Edition First-Year Reading Experience, which provides incoming freshmen and transfer students with a free copy of a common book. In addition to reading the book annually selected by MSU鈥檚 Center for Teaching and Learning, the program encourages students at all class levels, as well as interested administrators, faculty and staff members, to participate in Maroon Edition activities held throughout the year.
鈥淟ittle Princes: One Man鈥檚 Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal,鈥 an international best-selling and award-winning memoir by Conor Grennan, is the 2020 Maroon Edition book. Grennan was originally scheduled to speak this month at the university鈥檚 Fall Convocation, but the event has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Students, faculty and staff interested in volunteering to build the Maroon Edition home are encouraged to visit the Maroon Volunteer Center鈥檚 website at .
Learn more about MSU鈥檚 Maroon Edition program at .
For more on Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity, visit .
MSU is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .