By Jessica Isaacs | jessica@highcountrypress.com
Summertime is on its way to the High Country, and that means folks at Habitat for Humanity are kicking their work into high gear for the upcoming build season. Between fundraising events and volunteer opportunities, there are more ways than one for you to get involved and help them make a difference this year.
Watauga Habitat is a branch of the international organization, a nonprofit ecumenical housing ministry that puts God’s love into action to build new homes and safe, healthy, comfortable environments for families around the world.
What’s New with Watauga Habitat?
Since its inception, the Watauga affiliate has established 26 homes for local families. As temperatures rise and summer approaches, the team and its community partners are gearing up to start work on the next one, which will house a family of five and will be the fifth home in the Habitat-established GreenWood development.
Habitat homes are built using volunteer labor with the help of the families who receive them, also known as “partner families,” who must meet certain criteria before beginning their journey to homeownership through the agency.
The Watauga affiliate is also growing its local home repair program, through which homeowners must meet the same criteria as partner families for new homes.
“We’ve been doing it for a few years now, but the repair program is still in its infancy in terms of the scope. We get calls all the time about doing home repairs, so we figured we should do them,” said Watauga Habitat Executive Director Alex Hooker. “It’s not something that Habitat affiliates usually do, but more and more are doing it to help people who can’t afford to fix things in their homes. It’s a way for us to help more people.”
This year, the High Country Homebuilders Association, a longtime friend of the organization, has upped the ante and committed to an unprecedented level of support for the upcoming build.
In addition to donating $17,000 worth of materials, the group will volunteer their time to build the “shell” of the house, which will include the interior framing, the roof, the siding, the windows and more.
“Some of the work is hard to do with volunteers, so it’s a big plus for us and for the homeowners to have them,” Hooker said. “This is the second big project we have done with the HCHA. They have always supported us, but this goes well above and beyond what they have normally done.”
For more information, check out wataugahabitat.org.
Want to help? Here’s how to get involved.
Volunteer
You don’t need construction experience to make a difference on the build site. If you’re ready to give your time to the next project, give the Habitat office a call at 828-268-9696 to set something up. The team will work two days a week at the site of the next home, and anyone can help.
Ladies, join Watauga Habitat as it puts the final touches on the 2015 project for this year’s Women Build event on May 7.
Donate
Spring cleaning? Put your unused items to good use this year. Donate your furniture and housewares to Habitat’s ReStore, located at 1200 Archie Carroll Road in Boone. Sales from the ReStore make up a huge portion of Habitat’s operating budget, so donating your items is a great way to clear the clutter and help local families.
Drop things off anytime during store hours or call to schedule a pick-up for larger items.
Have Fun
At Town Tavern in Blowing Rock on Saturday, April 16, taste the best in craft beer from eight local breweries and help raise money to support this year’s Habitat building project.
On Saturday, April 23, make your way to Appalachian Mountain Brewery in Boone for the Hawaiian-themed conclusion of this year’s Habitat “Big Kahuna” campaign, through which local leaders compete to raise the most money and earn bragging rights as the next “Big Kahuna.”
The fun will begin at noon that day. Competitor totals will be posted in the brewery starting at 2 p.m., giving local supporters time to boost the numbers with additional contributions before the 4 p.m. announcement of the winner. The event will feature great food, local beer and live music, and 10 percent of proceeds will support Habitat’s next project.
Faith Build
This year’s new home will be a Faith Build Project, through which Habitat aims to strengthen its partnership with local churches and build new relationships in the faith community.
Any congregation or group looking to join the coalition of churches who support Habitat can attend the 5:30 p.m. Faith Build community meeting at Grace Lutheran Church in Boone on April 26.
What’s going on next door in Avery County?
Springtime is also a great time to support Habitat for Humanity of Avery County.
Linville Golf Club at Eseeola Lodge will host the Spring Mountain Classic golf tournament on May 13.
Register by April 15! The tournament will feature at 12:30 p.m. shotgun start and Texas Scramble format for $200 per player with prizes awarded in both gross and net divisions.
Check out averycohfh.org to register and get more information on how to support the Avery affiliate.
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