[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7069-S7070]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIBUTE TO MIRA BALL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, for six decades, my dear friend Mira 
Ball has been helping Kentucky families realize one of the cornerstones 
of the American dream: owning their own home. Earlier this year, Mira 
was honored for a lifetime of achievement in our Commonwealth with 
Leadership Kentucky's Flame of Excellence Award. Today, I would like to 
congratulate Mira for this latest recognition of her contributions to 
our home State.
  With her late husband, Don, Mira built Ball Homes into a respected 
business helping improve the lives of Kentuckians for generations. Don 
led the sales, and Mira kept the books. Together, they made a premier 
team helping make home ownership a reality for families across the 
region. The organization was made better still as their children, Ray, 
Mike, and Lisa, took their own leadership roles. Today, the company 
builds over 1,000 high-quality homes each year.
  Mira's contributions to Kentucky extend far beyond her 
entrepreneurial achievement. She is a trailblazing leader and 
philanthropist with special emphases on the health and education of our 
next generation. Saying she would only get involved in organizations 
where she could really make a difference, this former schoolteacher has 
helped steer the future of some of Kentucky's prominent institutions. 
In fact, Mira was the first woman to chair the boards of trustees for 
the University of Kentucky, Midway College, and the Lexington Chamber 
of Commerce.
  In 2018, Mira made the single largest scholarship gift in UK's 
history of $10 million to help Kentucky students access higher 
education and the opportunity for a better future. The scholarships 
focus on students from Nelson and Henderson Counties, Mira and Don's 
native homes, respectively. The gift is only one snapshot of years of 
philanthropy that will benefit the school and all who rely on it.
  Across our Commonwealth, families and communities can see the results 
of Mira's work. Families living in homes built by the Ball have adapted 
this year, turning kitchen tables into offices and classrooms. Students 
supported by Mira's philanthropy were given an extra leg up. Anyone who 
turns on Kentucky Educational Television, KET, or receives help from 
the United Way has benefited from her vision and immense generosity.
  So, it is my privilege to join the chorus praising Mira's leadership 
in Kentucky. She has not only paved a remarkable path, but she is also 
helping new leaders find their own. On behalf of my Senate colleagues, 
I would like to congratulate Mira Ball for this award and wish her 
years of continued success in Kentucky.
  The Kentucky Builders Journal recently published a profile on Mira 
Ball's career. I ask unanimous consent the article be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

           [From the Kentucky Builders Journal, Summer 2020]

                 Mira Ball Honored for Her Life's Work

       Earlier this year, the statewide leadership development 
     program Leadership Kentucky awarded its annual Flame of 
     Excellence Award to Lexington businesswoman Mira Ball. The 
     award is given to an outstanding Kentuckians who ``bravely 
     goes before and lights the way for others.'' Ball has 
     certainly led a life that fits that description. As a member 
     of the home building community, she is a role model to future 
     generations in areas of leadership, business management and 
     community involvement and service.
       While the Ball name is well known in the Lexington area, 
     Ball and her late husband, Don, have both had impact across 
     the state. The couple incorporated Ball Homes in 1959 and 
     immediately focused on the first-time home buyer market with 
     their first model home in the Cardinal Valley neighborhood 
     off Versailles Road. Their goal was to build homes in a price 
     range that Lexington city police and firefighters could 
     afford. At the time, police and firefighters were required to 
     live within city limits.
       More than 60 years later, the company remains family owned 
     and still prides itself on making home ownership a reality 
     for those who never thought it possible.
       ``If you've got a heart for people, you want them to be 
     able to have an affordable home that they can live in and 
     enjoy,'' said Mira Ball. ``You see what's happening with 
     zoning and the availability of land, and you get very 
     concerned about the fact that the people who are the ordinary 
     workers can't afford to live there.''
       Ball Homes has built more homes all over Lexington as well 
     as in the Louisville and Knoxville markets. Don was 
     passionate about affordable housing throughout his career, 
     and the Balls' daughter Lisa Ball Sharp shares her father's 
     interest and has served on Lexington's Affordable Housing 
     Task Force.
       Ball is still involved in the business although the Balls' 
     three children, Ray, Mike and Lisa, have been leading the 
     company since the 1980s. Ray took over acquisition and 
     development, Mike oversees construction management, and Lisa 
     is in charge of property management and sale. Ball said that 
     even as her husband let go of the day-to-day decision-making 
     long ago, she stayed active in the business long after 
     because ``nobody wanted to do what I did.'' What Ball did was 
     make sure the bottom line always added up.


                         accounting for success

       Ball first took an interest in accounting and business 
     while attending the University of Kentucky, where she met her 
     future husband and worked in the Placement Service office. 
     Although she graduated with a teaching certificate and taught 
     junior high school students for one year, Ball left teaching 
     to stay home when her children were born. As the family and 
     the building business grew, she became the bookkeeper and 
     behind-the-scenes partner while her husband became the 
     business's public face.
       ``Don was a good salesperson,'' said Ball. ``He had the 
     ideas. And I was the one who kept things straight.''
       She said that while it's important to be ready for new 
     opportunities and challenges, good timing had a lot to do 
     with their success. Ball Homes has also benefited from new 
     ideas as her children began to lead. They expanded into new 
     markets, developed new neighborhoods and formed a property 
     management business within the company.
       ``There's a lot of interaction between Ray, Mike and Lisa. 
     But they work well together,'' said Ball. ``The building 
     business is something that you can be very proud of; you're 
     furnishing homes for people.''
       When asked how she had managed to raise children who wanted 
     to follow into the family business and shared their parents' 
     commitment to the community, Ball mentioned the example set 
     by her and Don's parents.
       ``Our parents were really good examples for my children. 
     Hard work was expected and something you should enjoy and 
     helping other people was important. Some of that empathy came 
     naturally to Don,'' said Ball. ``I think you have to be 
     sincere and live your life like you should and be a good 
     example, but I also thank the Lord every day for my parents 
     and what they gave me. It wasn't wealth but they had good 
     values and that's what was more important.''
       ``I'm sure too that having us both work in the business and 
     talking about things in front of [our children] made them 
     familiar with what went on in the building business, both the 
     ups and downs. There have been times when we thought we'd 
     never sell another house with interest rates at 18% and 19%. 
     They were aware of that growing up and understood it. Don 
     always understood the impact of high interest rates on 
     affordability, and Ray really gets that too.''


                          focused on education

       Her husband is remembered for his efforts to aid the 
     homeless and addicted across the state through his roles as 
     state representative and service on the Kentucky Housing 
     Corporation. Ball's own civic contributions have focused on 
     health and education. She has served with a wide variety of 
     organizations including the PTA, the American Cancer Society, 
     the United Way, Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children, the St. 
     Joseph Hospital Foundation, the Kentucky Historical Society, 
     the Governor's Mansion Preservation Foundation, and the 
     Kentucky Horse Park. In 1991, she became the first woman to 
     serve as chairman of the Lexington Chamber of Commerce. She 
     was also the first woman elected to the Kentucky Utilities 
     board of directors, the first woman chairman of the Midway 
     College board of trustees, and the first woman to serve as 
     chair of the University of Kentucky board of trustees. She 
     was appointed to the State Economic Development Task Force 
     and the Governor's Commission on Tax Policy. She continues to 
     serve on the Endowment Board of Kentucky Educational 
     Television.
       ``I think I came along at a time when a lot of 
     organizations thought it's time for a woman. I wasn't going 
     to get involved with any organization if I wasn't going to 
     actually work on it,'' said Ball. ``There are so many things 
     in this world that you feel like you can't make a difference. 
     But education

[[Page S7070]]

     is the No. 1 thing that will change Kentuckians for the 
     better. It's where you can really do more to help.''
       One of the problems Ball has tried to address has been 
     lowering the attrition rate of returning students who can't 
     keep up with tuition costs. In 2018, she gave the University 
     of Kentucky $10 million to establish a scholarship fund that 
     will focus on students from Nelson County, where she grew up 
     and Henderson County, where Don was raised. It will fund 
     dozens of undergraduate and graduate scholarships in the two 
     counties and surrounding areas, focused specifically on 
     addressing unmet financial need.


                        Impact on HBA membership

       While her efforts have been highly publicized in the world 
     of higher learning, Ball recognizes the benefits of work 
     experience and involvement in organizations to promote 
     lifelong learning.
       ``My work experience at UK was as valuable as any classroom 
     experiences I had,'' said Ball. ``I think experience is a big 
     educator, and sometimes you have to make your own. I enjoy 
     learning about new things all the time. That's the reason I 
     like KET so much.''
       The Balls were active members of the home builders 
     association and were jointly named Builders of the Year by 
     the Lexington HBA in 1992. Attending meetings like the 
     International Builders Show was a source of ongoing learning 
     for her.
       ``I used to go to those meetings, and there wasn't a time 
     that I didn't come back with something valuable. I went to 
     all the financial seminars, and I can still remember some of 
     the speakers and what they said,'' she laughed.
       Ball points to her upbringing and her Christian faith for 
     prompting her to serve her community through the years. She 
     talked about a young minister who influenced her to see all 
     people as deserving of love and respect. As she describes how 
     she felt when she visited the Hope Center and other drug and 
     alcohol addiction recovery programs. Ball's compassion for 
     those who struggle in her community is evident.
       ``You never visit those places without thinking how blessed 
     you are,'' she said. ``If you just go in and really talk to 
     people, you get the idea that you've just got to help.''

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