The event was orchestrated to encourage participants to commit to serving others and to stand up for what they believe. In honor of this mission, families were tasked to reflect on Ali's life principles of: Respect, Dedication, Confidence, Conviction, Giving, and Spirituality. They were also asked to choose one of the principles, relate it to their personal life and share their responses in a creative way. The submissions were extremely diverse, each one creatively capturing the essence of Ali's foundation.

Londyn Douglass, age 8, daughter of Habitat homeowner Tiffany Douglass, caught everyone's attention with her painted poster of a rainbow headlined with the written words, "Sharing is Caring." When handed a microphone, she welcomed the opportunity to share with the crowd the meaning behind her poster. She spoke with confidence and connected with everybody in the room. Her words and picture truly embraced the simple inspirational mission of Habitat Chesapeake and Generation Ali. 

As the event continued, Harbaugh took the opportunity to share his story and reflect on how Ali served as an inspiration in his personal life. For him, Ali was an important role model, who taught him to "attack everyday with enthusiasm," a lesson he teaches on the field and to his own family.

Despite his battle with Parkinson's disease, Ali's cheerful attitude and strong spirit radiated throughout the room. As part of the event, children had the opportunity to trace Ali's hand and their own and form a collaborative image. Through these interactive events, Ali hopes to inspire all generations to live with compassion and act as a catalyst for global change. As he did in the boxing ring, Ali encourages people to become heroes and leaders in their own communities and to stand strong and overcome adversity. 

Most of the stadium event attendees are currently partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build their own homes. Qualified families contribute 250-300 "sweat equity" hours working alongside Habitat volunteers on build sites. In recognition of the homeowners' hard work, Ali's devoted wife Lonnie shared her touching stories of motherhood and honored the families for their dedication and perseverance. On behalf of her husband, she thanked the families for sharing their stories and explained how they were essential to creating Generation Ali. 

Over the years, Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake has worked with hundreds of families to help provide simple, decent housing and encourage Baltimore area residents to make a difference in their community. Working with Generation Ali enabled Habitat Chesapeake to expand the circle of encouragement that surrounds future homeowners. To help continue Muhammad Ali's legacy, Habitat would like to encourage everybody to celebrate what brings people together. To find out more about Generation Ali, please visit their website.  

Assembling on the 1100 block of Ward Street in Southwest Baltimore, more than 50 friends, family members, student volunteers and local dignitaries gathered on Friday, September 21 to celebrate the dedication of Kariem Yoonus' new home. Through Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake's Build-A-Block Program, student volunteers from 16 area high schools came together to make homeownership achievable for Kariem. The students were involved in all aspects of the effort, raising money, developing ideas and dedicating their Saturdays to building homes.

This Build-A-Block effort brought together students from area public, private, and parochial schools including: Baltimore City College, The Bryn Mawr School, Calvert Hall College High School, Carver Vocational-Technical High School, Dulaney High School, Hereford High School, Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical Senior High School, McDonogh School, Mount Saint Joseph High School, Boys' Latin School of Maryland, The Park School of Baltimore, The Jemicy School, Friends School of Baltimore, Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, Shoshana S. Cardin Jewish Community High School, and Roland Park Country School.

For many students, volunteering on site enabled them to apply their classroom learning outside of school in a real-world setting. In addition, many hours were spent writing grants, planning fundraising events and creating a new community garden. Students from the vocational schools were extremely helpful in the building process, drawing from their construction knowledge. As faculty adviser Marla Hollingsworth said, "Build-A-Block is all about bringing to the community what talents you have to share." 

During the home dedication ceremony, Carver Vo-Tech student volunteer Antoine Brooks summarized hisvolunteer experience as requiring "hard work, dedication and teamwork." These sentiments were also shared by many of his classmates. He was also given the honor of officially handing the keys to the house over to its grateful new owner. 

As he passed the keys to the new homeowner, Antoine said, "I just want everybody to be happy and satisfied, because at the end of the day nobody wants to be alone." His words truly embrace Build-Block's mission to rebuild lives and rebuild communities.   

Kariem was presented with the Qur'an after the following passages were read aloud.

And remember when you were few, deemed weak in the land, fearing lest people might carry you off by force, but He sheltered you and strengthened you with His aid and gave you of the good things that you may give thanks.