By 
April 10, 2026
On a quiet Huntsville street, sunlight spills across the fresh vinyl siding of a modest home that has stood for decades as the anchor of an entire family’s story. Outside, Suzanna Stewart Jackson—warm, witty, overflowing with memories—watches in awe at what is unfolding around her.
“This is a blessing,” she said, smiling. “I can’t believe this is my house. It is so phenomenal.”
Suzanna has lived here since 2003 when she returned home from Chicago to care for her mother. Born and raised in Huntsville, she is stitched deeply into the fabric of the community—one of 16 children, a twin, a mother of four and “Grandmama” to 14. Her life has been rich with love and heartache, including the loss of a grandson she still carries tenderly in memory. And for years, like many seniors on fixed incomes, she struggled to keep her home in good repair.
“I’d given up and said, okay, I’m not fixing anything else,” she shares. “All the money I spent, I feel like I wasted it.”
But this week, everything has changed.
The heart of the program
The repairs happening at Suzanna’s home are part of National Community Development Week, a time each year when cities across the country highlight the impact of federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding. In Huntsville, the program is managed by the City’s Community Development team—people like James “Jimbo” Adkins.
The City uses CDBG funds to help homeowners who are low-to-moderate income, over 62 or legally disabled stay in the homes they love.
“We primarily focus on roofing, vinyl siding and HVAC installations,” Adkins said.
And each year, they complete between 80 and 100 homes—repairs that ripple beyond each property.
“It has a greater impact on the entire neighborhood,” Adkins said. “It builds community and encourages other homeowners to maintain their homes.”
For seniors like Suzanna, these repairs are more than maintenance. They are hope. They are independence. They are dignity.
A neighbor’s helping hand
While the City coordinates the work, volunteers bring heart and human connection to the effort. This week, among the team sawing, hammering and hauling materials is Jeffrey Damron, a longtime volunteer whose family has made service a part of their life.
His path to service in Huntsville began long before arriving in Alabama. For 30 years, Damron worked for a children’s charity in Ohio supporting kids with life‑threatening illnesses. It taught him something he never forgot.
“Our most important staff members were our unpaid staff members—our volunteers,” he said.
So, when he and his wife moved to Huntsville eight years ago to be closer to their grandchildren, they knew they wanted to continue that legacy of giving.
“It doesn’t matter how much we do for others,” Damron said. “They always give us thanks back and bless our hearts even more than we bless them.”
For him, volunteering isn’t just an act, it’s a way of building relationships, strengthening neighborhoods and ensuring people like Suzanna feel seen and supported.
“If you want to have a great life,” Damron said. “You need relationships. And some of the greatest people to have a relationship with are the ones that volunteer their time to make it a better community.”
A home restored, a spirit lifted
As volunteers and staff work around her, Suzanna’s stories flow as easily as her gratitude. She talks about raising her children, caring for babies in her daycare and the neighborhood where “everybody knows my grandbabies.”
She jokes about forgetting her age. She talks about faith. She talks about loss. And she talks—again and again—about the joy this project has brought her.
“Oh, it’s going to be awesome,” she said with a beaming smile. “I’m going to be grinning from ear to ear. My grandbabies are going to be so proud.”
She hopes other seniors will hear her story and not give up.
“There’s help out there for us,” she said. “We can be blessed too.”
What Community Development really means
National Community Development Week is more than a policy initiative. It is the lived reality of people like Suzanna, made possible by the dedication of professionals like Adkins and the compassion of volunteers like Damron.
It’s the story of a city choosing to lift up its seniors.
Of neighbors choosing to love neighbors.
Of homes restored and hearts restored with them.
“I’m just in a state of shock,” Suzanna said, looking out at her renewed home. “Don’t give up, seniors…we’re gonna make it.”
