The 'Michelle Obama' house in Fayetteville: Cameras long gone but mission remains

Yahoo

28-01-2025

For many people, the two-story gray-frame house with red trim and impressive pillars on Langdon Street remains the 'Michelle Obama house.'
It is easy to see why.
I was there on the sweltering July day in 2011 when then-first lady Obama came for the big reveal on the Jubilee House — a house that folks in the Fayetteville community had helped build and that was featured that year on the hit show, 'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.'
Opinion Pitts: From J. Cole to Michelle Obama, a tour of Fayetteville's unique connections
Despite the heat, the atmosphere was festive and hundreds came out — many of them volunteers who had donned the white hard hats and helped build the 7,000-square foot house just down the road from Fayetteville State University. It was an unforgettable moment in the 'Ville.
The house would also serve an important purpose: It was to be a transitional space for homeless women veterans and their children.
'Words cannot describe what I'm seeing right now,' one resident said back then. 'I can't wait to move on, and I hope the next lady who lives in that room will enjoy it just the same.'
More: PHOTOS: Reveille Retreat
A lot has happened in the nearly 13 years since then. A company named Endeavors took over operations in 2017 after complaints of mismanagement under previous ownership led to investigations by the North Carolina Secretary of State's Charitable Solicitation Licensing Division and the state Attorney General.
Endeavors, formerly Family Endeavors, rechristened the space the Reveille Retreat. The nonprofit based in San Antonio, Texas, works with people in crisis and had already been serving 400 veterans every year in Cumberland County, according to its own story about the house at the Endeavors website.
Opinion Pitts: Fayetteville day center for homeless opens. Two stories show promise and challenges
'Endeavors already had an idea of what they wanted the Reveille Retreat to look like,' the website states. 'They envisioned modeling it after our Fairweather Lodge in San Antonio, Texas, with permanent supportive housing as well as case management and life skills training.
'With this plan in mind, we went to work fixing water damage, structural issues, and other problem areas that needed to be addressed to bring the house up to safety standards.'
Ramps, wider doorways, new stoves and refrigerators were among renovations as the retreat underwent $400,000 in renovations and reopened in three years, according to the account.
On Friday, I reached out to Endeavors in San Antonio for more information. Kimberly Harle Solis, the chief marketing and communications officer for Endeavors in San Antonio, said on Monday that someone would get back to me with more information, but I did not hear from anyone.
The services at the Reveille Retreat are geared toward veteran women who struggle with chronic illness or disabilities or mental health challenges who are homeless. The home gives them 'a safe place to regroup and get back on their feet,' according to the Endeavors site.
They can take parenting classes and job training while their children can receive homework assistance.
Endeavors made a go at offering similar services for men at the Enfield House, but it closed in 2021 after three years.
The nonprofit, according to its website, does extend similar programs countywide, as at Reveille, through the Bonanza Project, which seeks to get people into homes while building their independence; reducing symptoms; lessening periods of homelessness; and decreasing the need for acute psychiatric care.
In this way, the "Michelle Obama" house maintains its role in a crucial way that continues long after the cameras left Langdon Street.
Opinion Editor Myron B. Pitts can be reached at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: After Michelle Obama: A Fayetteville home sticks to mission | Opinion