State of the City MC Jamin Baxter and Martinsville Chamber board chair recently presented the coveted Ruth Rusie Spirit of Service Award to Joe Mills, Executive Director of Morgan County Habitat For Humanity.

This award recognizes an individual for outstanding contributions in the way of volunteering, giving, fundraising, mentoring, or caring in the community. The Ruth Rusie Spirit of Service award is named for Ruth Rusie of Martinsville, IN for her inspiring volunteer achievements and outstanding commitment to community service.

From the submitted nomination: “Joes’ leadership has carried Morgan County Habitat for Humanity through a very difficult year. Like most non-profits, MCHFH experienced declines in donations, restore donations/sales, and volunteer participation, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At one point, it looked like it would be impossible to start a build at all in 2020, which would be devastating to the partner families in line for their opportunity to be homeowners. Thanks to Joes’ commitment to MCHFH and persistent work with IHCDA, the organization was able to break ground on home #52 in August 2020. Because Joe has repeatedly proven his dedication to this community, volunteer teams were willing to follow cumbersome covid 19 restrictions in order to serve on teams.”