This has been a year of "big changes" for Susan Cook-Williams.
She got married two weeks ago, becoming a step-mother and adding a hyphenated-last name.
Cook-Williams recently announced she's going to have a baby next summer.
And, just last month, she began a new job as executive director for River City Habitat for Humanity - which this year celebrated the 25th anniversary of its founding and the completion of its 100th home.
"Since I've been here, I've gotten to see two closings - so I've seen two people earn the keys to their new homes," she told the News Tribune, noting those experiences are "definitely" a perks and the greatest part of the job.
As one example, she cited Judy McCombs, new owner of Habitat's 100th home, crying joyfully at the home's dedication "because, she said, 'I never thought I'd be able to own my own home.'"
And that is Habitat's main mission - helping people living in substandard conditions become homeowners, through hard work and education.
"That's the dream - that every single person has a chance to be able to have safe, affordable housing," she said.
Cook-Williams has been interested in social service-type work as long as she can remember.
"It's always kind of been in my nature," she explained. "My parents were big social advocates and just kind of raised us to really look out for your neighbor and to think outside yourself."
Born in West Plains, she eventually graduated from high school in Nebraska, near Omaha, and then she attended the University of Missouri-Columbia for 1 1/2 years.
But then her grandmother in West Plains developed bone cancer, Cook-Williams recalled, "so I moved to Springfield to be closer, to help take care of her."
After graduating in 1999 with a psychology major from what now is Missouri State University, Cook-Williams moved to West Plains and lived with her grandmother for two years.
After getting married, she moved to Jefferson City - and stayed here after her divorce.
For the last three years, she was Empower Missouri's operations manager.
"I did everything from staff development to (human resources) to the bookkeeping to the website to the communications," Cook-Williams said.
While working at Empower, Cook-Williams last year also earned a master's degree in sociology from Lincoln University.
Habitat's directors hired Cook-Williams to succeed Kelly Smith, who resigned in August.
"We believe Susan is an excellent fit for our organization, our community, and our values of collaboration, opportunity, and dignity," Board Chair Norm Robinson said as he announced her hiring on the organization's Facebook page, noting that her resume "includes over 20 years of management, administration, communications and marketing experience."
Cook-Williams told the News Tribune: "I loved Empower Missouri - but it's a huge umbrella. When Habitat came along, (it) felt like a more narrow path that I could really focus my energy on."
Habitat for Humanity International formally began in the U.S. in 1976.
The River City Habitat Chapter began in 1991 and affiliated with the International organization in 1992 - a decade after some local church leaders had begun talking about building a more safe, sanitary home for one family's needs.
Area churches remain a strong part of Habitat's support.
"It was founded on Christian principles," Cook-Williams said. "It's something that's just in the core of the Habitat organization."
In its first 25 years, the River City chapter faced several times when finances were strained to the point of shutting down the organization, but volunteers helped keep the mission alive.
"The same as any non-profit, there's always funding (issues), making sure that we have enough money to be able to continue building," Cook-Williams said.
And cash isn't the only challenge.
"There's a lot of technology issues," she said. "(And) reaching out to some of the younger generations to get involved, to keep the organization going."
Many of Habitat's volunteers are retired people who have been with River City Habitat since it began, working with the executive board, helping choose the low-income families that will benefit from a home and selecting the sites where those homes will be built.
Many of the voluteers also have helped, from the beginning, with building those homes, along with the families that receive them through their own, 350 hours of "sweat equity" in working on their own homes and helping others build other Habitat homes.
It's been a big year for Cook-Williams in another way, too - she chairs the Cole County Democratic Committee.
She understands her new job is heading a non-profit agency that works to stay out of politics.
"I think it's like anything else - when you come to work, you do your job and you focus on the aspects of that organization," Cook-Williams explained. "To me, it's the same values.
"But, I definitely keep the two organizations separate, and do the (political) stuff in my off-time."
Last spring, she also helped organize the community's first "Youth Day" for fifth through eighth-graders - and the second annual event will be April 8, at Lincoln University. abitat is a co-sponsor of next year's event.