OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Within the last few years, Robert Bray IV purchased his first home and started a new job. It took a few conversations to fully understand how those two events were so closely intertwined.
- Bray knew he grew up in a Habitat for Humanity home. After he went to work for the organization as an equipment supervisor, he learned the home was special.
- "My mom never even disclosed that to me that they were the first," he exclaimed. The discovery happened after light bulbs went off within the organization.
- 3 News Now met Bray as he volunteered alongside Habitat Omaha's founder, Mary Lyons-Carmona, in Bluestem Prairie - 40 years after she started the chapter.
Continue reading for the expanded version of the story, as seen on-air.
What's in a name? Pride, for starters. It can also connect precious dots.
"In this neighborhood, before we started here, Robert had bought a house adjacent and Robert said, 'I wanna work at Habitat for Humanity.' And ended up working with us," Habitat Omaha Chief Executive Officer Amanda Brewer said.
"We (later) realized he was the child of our very first Habitat homeowner," she continued.
Robert Bray IV was stunned, too.
"I didn't realize that until I started actually working for... my mom never even disclosed that to me that they were the first. I knew we had a Habitat house. I just never knew we were the first homeowners," he explained.
Habitat for Humanity of Omaha was founded 40 years ago. The Bray family's home was built in the mid-1980s.
"I grew up with both parents. I have two other siblings - older sisters. I was the baby. Still the baby," Bray laughed.
The home at 37th and Spencer provided the sort of stability which Bray has carried throughout his life.
"When we finally got our Habitat house, I got my first room. Remember having a lot of friends in the area I grew up in. Went to school there," he reflected.
The day of our visit, Bray volunteered in Bluestem Prairie alongisde Habitat Omaha founder Mary Lyons-Carmona.
"It's just amazing when you talk to people and so many people have a story - somebody got a Habitat house, somebody volunteered for Habitat," she beamed.
Bray draws a straight line from his childhood experience to who he is today.
"Made me grow up to want to become a homeowner myself and that's what my goal was, so I finally achieved that goal two years ago and bought my first house for me, my wife and my kids."
So, imagine, 40 years from now - what may be for the family in the home Bray and Lyons-Carmona volunteered on together: 6720 North 50th Avenue.
For additional stories about the organization and Bluestem Prairie, visit this link.