GOOCHLAND COUNTY, Va. -- On an 87-degree morning in rural Goochland County, putting up shutters is the last thing you'd expect of an 87-year-old man.
But then again, you haven't met Knight Bowles.
"It is hot out here today," Knight said.
The senior constructor is finishing up work on Goochland Habitat for Humanity’s 29th home.
"This is the same house we’ve been building since day one," he said.
And Knight has been there since day one, spending the past two-and-a-half decades bringing affordable housing to his hometown.
"I was raised here," Knight said. "I know the area."
For almost as long as his time volunteering, Knight served our nation. He spent 27 years in the Navy, earning the rank of captain.
"I was in a Douglas Squadron, and we dropped sonar buoys and tracked submarines and stuff like that," the senior builder recalled. "I went from Goochland to Newport, Rhode Island to Jacksonville, Florida to San Francisco to Hawaii."
But Knight's heart always belonged in his once small county west of Richmond, a county that saw six percent growth just over the past two years, one of the biggest gains in the state.
"The county is trying to stay at 5% rural," said Knight. "That’s an optimistic goal."
"It's not a sleepy little community anymore," Brad Duty, Goochland Habitat for Humanity president, said. "The land prices have escalated very quickly. It's in demand."
In fact, Duty estimates the 20-acre plot of land the nonprofit purchased for $50,000 in 2022 would have cost only $10,000 to $15,000 when Duty joined Goochland Habitat 10 years ago.
"We had to get very creative to try to bring a turn-key project together so that the new homeowner family could afford that," said Duty.
Both Duty and Knight want families of all incomes to be able to live in their community, including 39-year-old Sherita Jackson, who until earlier this year thought owning a home here was just a dream.
"I am born and raised in Goochland County," said Jackson. "I've been praying about this for a long time. People in my age group can’t afford a $500,000 home.”
Jackson got a call from the Habitat team in January that they were about to break ground on a three-bed, two-bath home just for her.
“I was shocked," she exclaimed. "I couldn't believe it.”
This single mom of two boys has spent the past six months picking out paint colors and customizing her new abode.
"It makes it special," Jackson smiled.
Jackson knows wouldn’t be possible without volunteers like Knight.
"He's a real inspiration," she said. "Someone that lives here and knows what the community needs and trying to meet those needs, that's very important.”
While Knight claims he can’t do as much as he used to, he keeps his fellow construction managers in line.
“I think maybe when they have an ache or pain some mornings, they will say well, Knight is going to be there," Duty laughed. "So we can't let him down."
Because as much as Knight loves to relax at home, he knows Jackson's house isn't quite done.
"When I put the recliner back, it’s bedtime," smiled Knight. "Hopefully, we'll finish up in another two or three weeks."
This 39-year-old mother now has a future here, planting roots where she grew up.
"I’ll have a bed, I’ll have a dresser, and have a space to stretch out," said Jackson. "Maybe I'll have a garden out back. I'm still trying to figure out the landscaping in the front."
But Knight feels he is the lucky one because he has his health, his home, and a community that needs him to help build.
"Until six months ago, I didn't even take a pill," Knight laughed. "I don’t have any reason to quit. As long as these guys keep working, I’ll show up and do what I can."
Goochland Habitat will complete two homes this year, Jackson’s and another right next door, thanks to a grant and help from Eagle Construction, which partnered with the nonprofit to provide free and reduced labor and materials.
The gold standard for a Habitat for Humanity affiliate is to build one house per 1,000 people in the covered population.
Goochland’s population is just south of 25,000, so they've surpassed this goal, something Knight says makes him proud.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of the post misidentified Mr. Knight Bowles and Mr. Knight Gambit. CBS 6 regrets the error.
