Home sweet home: Flagler Habitat for Humanity dedicates new home for Grace Manuel

Manuel overcame two foot surgeries and a dire prognosis for a severed tendon to wear high heels at the dedication.

  • Palm Coast Observer
  • Neighbors
  • Share

When Grace Manuel applied to become a home owner through Flagler Habitat for Humanity two years ago, she told only a few friends.

“I felt like if I get a no, no one will know about it,” she said during the dedication on Thursday, July 10, of her new three-bedroom house in the R Section of Palm Coast.

But during a revival at her church, doubt became conviction when her teenage son, Josh, walked over to her and said, “The Lord told me that we're going to get a house.”

“We started praying over it,” she said. “And I started not just saying, ‘OK, if I get a house,’ I started declaring, ‘I’m going to get this house,’ and it became something that I truly, truly believed in my heart.”

Flagler Habitat for Humanity celebrated Grace and Josh with its 133rd new home dedication since 1993.

Grace Manuel's journey hasn’t been easy. A few months after her application was accepted, a mirror fell on her foot, severing a tendon. She ended up having two surgeries.

“The doctors told her she would never be able to wear heels again. But when they said that, they didn't see the fighter in her,” Flagler Habitat for Humanities Executive Director Maureen Crompton said.

Manuel wore her high heels at the dedication. After part of the tendon had to be cut during her second surgery, doctors not only told her she wouldn’t be able to wear heels again, they told her she would probably have to wear a brace in her shoe and would walk with a limp the rest of her life, she said.

She also lost her job.

“It was very bleak at that time,” Manuel said.

But not only did she prove her doctors wrong by gaining the strength she needed through physical therapy, but she got a job as a care coordinator at Flagler Cares.

Sometimes God is positioning you to a better place. Had that situation not happened, I wouldn't be standing here. Not only that, but God blessed me with an amazing job.
— GRACE MANUEL

“Sometimes God is positioning you to a better place,” she said. “Had that situation not happened, I wouldn't be standing here. Not only that, but God blessed me with an amazing job.”


HIGH-HEELED FASHION

When Manuel initially went to the Emergency Room after injuring her foot in February, 2024, she called Lindsay Elliott, who was the Flagler Habitat for Humanity executive director at the time. Elliott rushed over to sit with her and they wound up forming a lasting bond.

“I brought food, and we sat for four hours,” Elliott said. “Joshua came in and her nephew and Faith (her sister). She fought all odds and become a heel walker again, and so we made a pact that we’re both going to wear heels today. I found the highest ones I had in my closet. And for the first time in my 23 years with Habitat, I actually became a volunteer here, and painted.”

Habitat homes are sold to families with a mortgage at a 0% interest rate in exchange for sweat equity. Candidates must put in a total of 250 hours of sweat equity in helping build their own homes and the homes of other families or put in hours at the Flagler Habitat for Humanity ReStore. Manuel did most of her own home hours at night because od her day job, Construction Manager John Knox said.

“We'd come to work the next day, and you could tell Grace had been here, painting, cleaning and painting, cleaning some more. She did a great job,” he said.


CUTTING THE RIBBON

Josh Manuel, 19, is attending Daytona State College in the digital and interactive media program, Grace Manuel said. He also did his share of sweat equity, Knox and Community Outreach Coordinator Amanda Fernandez said.

“We had Collegiate Challenge come out, which is when college kids come from other states and come help us build,” Fernandez said. “This was not a requirement of Josh, but he came and spent his spring break, building this house for him and his mom. It just spoke volumes about how she has raised him, and the man that he is. He even went next door and helped clean out the gutters for his future neighbors.”

Gretchen Smith, a water conservation coordinator with the St. Johns River Water Management District and a team member with Florida Water Star, revealed that the home is going to save Manuel $500 a year in utility costs because it was built with water conservation in mind. The lawn is drought-tolerant bahia grass that does not need irrigating.

“You also have Florida-friendly plants around the trees, so it’s all designed to be more water efficient. And the toilets are low flow toilets,” Smith said. 

Knox presented Grace with the golden hammer. Calvary Christian Center — Palm Coast’s Romana Damian delivered the opening prayer, Natalie Wilds presented the bible and house blessing and pastors John and Victoria Galloway said a few words.

Elliott presented Grace and Josh with their house keys and the mother and son cut the ribbon on their new home.

 

Latest News

  • December 4, 2025
Bond discussion leads Volusia County Council to seek information on Volusia Forever acquisition list, funding process
  • December 4, 2025
Flagler County detective arrested in Ormond Beach, police say he fled from traffic stop
  • December 4, 2025
Beach bone-anza: Volusia County celebrates new dog beach in Daytona
  • December 4, 2025
Matanzas High School's Remy Battles wins Leaders 4 Life Fellowship
×

Your free article limit has been reached this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited digital access to our award-winning local news.