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Before McCallie worked for the city, he was a builder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy stress level became a problem for my family and my health,\u201d he said. \u201cThe city of Huntsville had just begun to receive grant funding for a home repair program. I was hired to build a volunteer network to repair low-income homes for seniors. I have always had a soft spot for seniors. This, paired with my deep religious faith, made this job more like a calling than a career opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because of McCallie\u2019s faith, he reached out to local churches. He had a plan. Instead of paying a contractor to do the repairs, he invited Christians who had a heart to serve their neighbors. Using another principle \u2014 many hands make light work \u2014 they completed twice as many tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI began building a group of qualified people who could lead youth groups and volunteers on construction sites. We then started contacting local churches and civic groups, asking them to serve seniors in Huntsville. Partnering with organizations like the Madison Baptist Association, we have been able to recruit churches from all over the Southeast to come to Huntsville during the summer and do weeklong projects. Now, each year we have over 700 volunteers who complete more than 100 projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When McCallie began in 2002, they started by cleaning up overgrown yards and removing debris, but those odd jobs have since come full circle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSlowly, we trained these groups to do vinyl siding and then roofing. After 25 years, some of the youth we started with are now our adult crew leaders who are training youth to do this work. They will then become future leaders on these projects. These are mission trips for faith-based groups. The mixture of faith-based groups and seniors is magical. Many lifelong relationships have formed through serving the community,\u201d McCallie said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the most notable moments of McCallie’s career was in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMadison Baptist and the North American Mission Board brought 503 youths and adults to serve on a weeklong mission trip. In one neighborhood, we roofed and put vinyl siding on 17 homes. We worked in groups of 12. Eight people worked while four cooled off and walked the neighborhood, spreading the word of Jesus Christ. We had 14 people from the neighborhood accept the Lord as their savior. I was only a few years into the job, and this is when I realized these were indeed mission trips and not just construction projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seeing others \u2014 especially youths \u2014 reaching out to help strangers renewed McCallie\u2019s hope for the future of our country and for Huntsville. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSeeing the number of volunteers willing to give back has shown me that people still want to help others who cannot do for themselves. We see the bad on the news; I see the good each day through our faith-based youth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mayor Tommy Battle awarded McCallie with the 2026 City of Huntsville Leadership Award, and though he will retire on Dec. 31, he doesn\u2019t plan to stop serving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI want to be known for the dedication to a program that some thought wouldn\u2019t succeed. I hope people remember I built this program with the heart of a teacher. I hope others see the satisfaction serving has brought me, and they reach for these same rewards.\u201d GN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cYou scratch my back, and I will scratch yours.\u201d This old saying, passed down through the generations, means if you do for me, I will, in turn, do for you. But the foundation of our worth isn\u2019t found in doing for those who can repay us. It\u2019s found when we choose to give of ourselves, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":26773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","content-type":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[6,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature","category-huntsville"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/huntsville-al\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/10\/4-1-1024x683.jpg\")
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