Jenitha Hodge receives the ceremonial key to her house. From left are Ron Morris, Habitat board member; David Butler, Habitat executive director; new homeowner Jenitha Hodge; her sons, Jayden Jennings and Jermiah Smith; Harris Morrison, Ms. Hodge’s uncle; and Jason Farmer, Habitat board president.Jenitha Hodge set two goals for herself this year: become a homeowner and get her GED.
She has met the first goal, picking up the keys to her new home in the Southside community on April 16 from Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga. The single mother will spend Mother’s Day – also her 33rd birthday – in her own home celebrating with her two sons.
And she’s almost ready to scratch off the second goal as soon as she can schedule a test time for the equivalency diploma.
Hodge’s perseverance to accomplish these goals – a drive that has spanned close to a decade – is a strong lesson to her sons that “nothing comes easy. You have to work hard for what you want in life,” she says.
She quit school in her senior year of high school 14 years ago to go to work. But she knew the importance an education would play in getting a job to support herself, so she took some business and technology classes at Chattanooga State Community College. She is now an assistant manager in retail sales, asking that her exact employer not be mentioned.