RICHMOND, Ky. — Watching a piece of paper burn Saturday morning, Rossetta Trammel’s eyes beamed with joy.

The paper, a mortgage on her Richmond home, was no longer needed. After nearly 20 years, the final payment was made. The home was hers, free and clear.

To celebrate, Trammel, a Habitat for Humanity homeowner, hosted friends, many who had helped her along the way, at a mortgage burning party.

Standing in front of her porch steps, Trammel, Guy Patrick, the local Habitat director in 1997, current Madison and Clark Counties Habitat Executive Director Russ Barclay and Joyce Thomas, Trammel’s former Habitat family partner, held lighters to the mortgage and set it ablaze.

“One of the biggest things in life is to start something and finish it,” Rev. Robert Blythe, a local pastor and Trammel’s friend, said. “Today, we get to witness the fact that about 20 years ago Trammel started something and has finished it.”

Based on providing quality housing for those in need through Christian service and goodwill, Habitat for Humanity has been around for more than 50 years with almost a million homes built to date. The organization’s reach spans five international regions; Habitat partners include former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn.

Trammel said she applied for her Habitat home in the early ‘90s after someone made the suggestion. A couple rental homes and several months later, Thomas, a Habitat for Humanity Family Partner, told Trammel she had been approved for a Habitat home.

“I’ve been with Habitat ever since,” Trammel said.

Trammel’s home was constructed in 1997, during the President Jimmy Carter Work Project when three homes were built in Richmond and three in nearby Berea, while the other 50-plus homes were scattered across Appalachia, she said.

“President Carter came and lifted a finger to every home (during their builds),” Trammel said, pointing to his signature on her picnic table, which bears the autographs of many instrumental in her home’s creation.

On the day construction began, Trammel drove the first nail. Since then, she has stayed heavily involved with Habitat as a member of the board of directors for multiple terms, a spokesperson, community member and by partnering with other Habitat families.

After Trammel’s mortgage burned and the ashes settled Saturday morning, very little could brush away her smile.

“There are no words to express the feeling of thanking God and feeling the love that has been given to me,” she said.

Along with Trammel, Barclay said three other local Habitat families have celebrated paying off their mortgages within the past five months.

“It goes to show that all those investments of generosity, sweat and funding that happened 20 to 25 years ago have continued to bear fruit in our community,” Barclay said.

King writes for the Richmond, Kentucky Register.