News and Events

Habitat has beefed up it's local radio advertising campaign, and debuted new spots that correspond to it's new print campaign. The print and radio ads focus on the Home Store and the Deconstruction program. Click on the headline to see options for listening to the ads.

Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity was recently awarded a 2009 Housing North Carolina Award, in the ownership category. Sponsored by the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCFHA), the awards recognize outstanding affordable properties that can serve as models for other communities. Criteria for the award included design, sustainability, contribution to the local community and special features.The Habitat property that won recognition was Enka Hills, a community of 54 single-family homes in West Asheville, made possible with funding from the City of Asheville, the Janirve Foundation, and the W&S Charitable Foundation.

Anna Sagel, owner of clothing boutique AdLib, raised $7,000 for Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity selling "Hats for Humanity". The funds will be used for the construction of the 2010 Women Build house. A strong proponent of Habitat, Anna also served on the fundraising committee for the 2009 Women Build house. Read more...

The Blue Ridge Rollergirls, Asheville's premier all-female roller derby league, always donates 10% of their bout proceeds to a local non-profit. Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity was the grateful recipient of proceeds from the August 23 bout. Rollergirl Colleen Rockstroh, aka Rigor Morticia, delivered a check for $623 to the Habitat office recently. Proceeds will go towards the 2010 Women Build house and the team looks forward to volunteering on that house build. Thanks for your support rollergirls!

On August 3, a celebratory key passing marked the completion of a Habitat home built in honor of the late Ray R. Rast, a long time Habitat volunteer. In a variation of the standard key passing, Celeste Rast – wife of the late Ray Rast - presented a large key holder to the Scerbina family. This intricately carved piece of wood in the shape of a key (with hooks for keys) hung for many years in the Rast’s retreat. After selling the property in 2008, the family decided to use some of the proceeds to sponsor a Habitat house in Ray’s honor. It was only fitting that this unique and iconic item was passed from the Rast family to the Scerbina family during this special event.

Asheville Area Habitat received a check for nearly $1,000 from Town Hardware in Black Mountain on May 13. The owners matches donations made by customers (at check out counters) during the month of April.

Lowe's of West Asheville presented Asheville Area Habitat with a $5,000 Lowe's Gift Card on May 7, 2009. The card will help Asheville Area Habitat buy more supplies for its Women Build program. Nationwide, Lowe’s committed $875,000 to National Women Build Week, providing grants and event support materials to 175 Habitat affiliates.

Spring is right around the corner and The Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville, North Carolina is preparing for the tenth annual Decorated Birdhouse Competition. Once again, competitors may elect to donate their birdhouse entry to Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity - we will use the artistic masterpieces for future fundraising efforts.

A ceremonial key passing was held on Wednesday, February 25 at Asheville Area Habitat’s Enka Hills subdivision. The ceremonial key passing celebrated the completion of two more Habitat houses in this community – one jointly sponsored by the Asheville Board of Realtors (ABOR) and the Rotary Club of Asheville, and the other by the local Interfaith community. The Codreanu and Tirgoala families received their real house keys the following day at their official legal closing.

Bank of America presented Asheville Area Habitat with a generous $10,000 check on November 3, making the Bank an "Adopt-a-Lot" sponsor. The house they are sponsoring is being built in the Enka Hills community. Bank of America has participated in two previous "Bankers Build" houses in which many local banks collaborated to fully sponsor and build an Asheville Area Habitat home. The banking community has provided strong support for Asheville Area Habitat through the years. At this time of economic turmoil, Asheville Area Habitat is especially grateful for Bank of America's support of our work and mission.

Best Buy (Tunnel Rd. store) has been a strong supporter of Asheville Area Habitat. They run an appliance donation program in which Asheville Area Habitat receives used appliances from customers upgrading to new/different models. Staff members volunteer on our construction site and in our Home Store, and most recently their Foundation made a $2,000 donation to AAHH in honor of the Store's "TagTeam" of employees who have volunteered with us. Our thanks to Kenneth Weaver who organizes community outreach efforts for store employees.