Standing on scaffolding, with the blazing sun at her back, Rinique Simmons nails siding on her home with one of the most well-known women in Alabama."You see how much longer that one is than this one?" Simmons says to her fellow crewmember, former Alabama First Lady Lori Siegelman.
Simmons’ home, 15 Turpin Ave., may carry the most notoriety of the neighborhood. Monday, former President Jimmy Carter sawed boards and constructed walls in her house.
Carter’s presence prompted high security measures. Only crewmembers were allowed beyond the yellow tape surrounding her yard. Police dogs sniffed for possible dangers as security agents combed the woods behind the house.
Although the dogs were a little distracting, Simmons says the "celebrities" blended in with the other volunteers.
"It’s not intimidating," she says. "They act just like normal people. They give you help if you need it."
By Tuesday, most of the security force left, taking the spotlight brought by the presence of a former president.
Simmons, 29, a teller at Colonial Bank in Oxford, bubbles with excitement as she talks about her decorating plans for her new home. Her sons, Tomaree, 11, and Gerald, 4, already have picked out fish-themed bathroom décor including towels and wallpaper border.
"I get my own bathroom," she says, pressing her hands to her heart. "I’m getting my own."
Simmons, a single mother, has rented a two-bedroom, one-bathroom white house in western Anniston for the past five years. She seems to find a new leak every time a heavy rainstorm passes. Gunshots startle her awake at night.
"I want a safe place for my kids to grow up," she says. "All of the people (who will live in the neighborhood) I’ve met are good people. My kids can ride their bikes, and I don’t have to sit on my porch to watch them."
She has applied for a home loan in the past, but the amount was never enough to buy a "decent" house in a "decent" neighborhood. "You’re stuck," she says. "I wondered how to make a better way. This is definitely a great opportunity."
Tomaree, who has autism, needs his own room, so Gerald shares a room with his mom. Gerald has been peppering her with questions about their new house: "When do we get that house? When are we getting my room?"
His patience will be rewarded with a kindergarten slumber party, complete with Spiderman, Power Rangers and Scooby Doo favors.
Full days of physical labor have aggravated an old ankle injury, and the work hobbles Simmons. Her perseverance won her the respect of the other volunteers.
"She’s pretty amazing," Lori Siegelman says. "She has not complained and worked all day."
