Just in time for the holidays, Lou’Quan Lucious, a local mother of three children, became the new homeowner of the 10th Maroon Edition home.
Habitat for Humanity and Mississippi State University have partnered for the last decade to unite the community and build affordable homes for low-income families.
When someone applies to become the recipient of a new home through Habitat for Humanity, the process is lengthy, according to Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity’s Executive Director Joel Downey.
“We start with an application process that we have twice a year,” Downey said. “People submit a written application, but it does include financial information. Then, we ask them to write an essay. In the essay, we ask two basic questions: ‘Why do you need a Habitat home? What will being a Habitat homeowner do to improve their lives and their family’s life?’ We looked at the applications, and of course, they have to qualify just based on financials. Sometimes, it’s the essays that put somebody who might be on the borderline where we say, ‘Well let’s go ahead and interview them.’”
Before the interview, a credit report is pulled, and the potential homeowners are asked about any issues they have had in their lives. After the interview, a handful are selected for home inspections, where they will be inspected on the need for a new home and how they manage their current home.
With many requirements, Lucious had been denied previously during the process.
“She had to apply three times before she was selected, and she worked on two other Habitat houses to show us that she was serious about it,” Downey said.
During her application process, Lucious’ life was busy during her first attempts to become a Habitat homeowner.
“At first, it was real hard applying,” Lucious said. “The first time I applied, they denied me because I had a lot going on at the time taking care of my elderly grandmother. I was her aid, I was working two jobs. I had too much going on at the time. My grandmother had passed, so I applied again.”
Last fall, Lucious helped build her friend Kareema Gillon’s Habitat home. Gillon and Lucious’ family pushed Lucious to not give up on becoming a Habitat homeowner.
“She (Lucious) was a Habitat homeowner also from the Maroon Edition last year,” Lucious said. “Her and her sister worked with me and helped me apply again. They encouraged me to keep on trying. Everybody encouraged me to keep on trying.”
After working very hard, Lucious found out she was going to be this year’s homeowner while helping work on Gillon’s house.
“Mr. Joel (Downey) had told me that some people from the committee wanted to come out and see how I work,” Lucious said. “They had come, and he was like, ‘Quan, have you met your neighbors?’ I’m like, ‘These ain’t my neighbors. You must think I’m Kareema.’ That’s when he showed me the balloons!”
Construction on Lucious’s home began at the beginning of the fall semester.
“There was probably close to about 350 to 400 different people that came out there; most were students,” Downey said.
Habitat is able to build homes and give back with the help of the university, thanks to the partnership between Habitat for Humanity and MSU.
“The university is a huge resource in this community, and so many people work at the university or are directly related with the university, that it is essential to have them as a partner with Habitat,” Downey said. “Without them, we really would be struggling to get the man power to do the work.”
With the help of Habitat and MSU, Lucious spent the Christmas holiday in her new house with her children.
“I really appreciate them, and I appreciate everything that they did for me,” Lucious said. “I am very thankful. I would like to thank Habitat for giving me the chance, and I would like to thank Mississippi State for coming out and using their time. They could’ve been doing other stuff, but they gave me that time and came out and helped me. I just really appreciate what they’ve done for me.”
A dedication was held in honor of Lucious moving into her new home, where Lucious received a family Bible from MSU President Mark E. Keenum on Dec. 17.
“Your home is a shining beacon right here in this neighborhood of all the hard work that went into this, but also of the love that went into building your home,” Keenum said in a press release.

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President Mark E. Keenum presents Lou'Quan Lucious with a family Bible at the Maroon Edition home dedication on Dec. 17.