Tag Archive for: Asheville Habitat

Jobsites Heat up for March Madness

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March Madness is here, but for Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity that means an influx of volunteer groups spending their spring break volunteering rather than heating up the basketball courts. The groups come from all over the country and bring with them volunteers, funds, and a surge of energy that matches any overtime game.

“The students bring a lot of enthusiasm to the jobsite. You can see them go through a transformation over the week that shows it truly is a life-changing experience for many of them,” says Charlie Franck, core volunteer with Asheville Area Habitat.

Most groups will work mainly on Habitat’s construction site in West Asheville, but some will also try their hand in the Habitat ReStore and on Habitat’s Home Repair sites. This year brings a mix of Collegiate Challenge and Global Village groups, comprised of college students and one national IT business. The groups are housed at Blue Ridge Assembly in Black Mountain, allowing them to enjoy the beauty of the mountains with access to hiking trails nearby. Each group will participate in a dinner with Habitat partner families who are in-process, allowing the volunteers an opportunity to get to know the people they are helping through their volunteer labor.

Visiting groups in March are:

Week One (March 2-6): Wilkes University (Pennsylvania), pictured above and in this Flickr album

Week Two (March 9-13): Heartland Technology Group (IT Company)

Week Three (March 16-20): Lesley University (Massachusetts); Ramapo College of New Jersey (½ week with Habitat, ½ week with other non-profits)

Week Four (March 23-27): University of Missouri

Construction Services Volunteer Coordinator Stephanie Wallace noted, “We are thrilled to welcome both new and repeat groups this year. Wilkes, Heartland Technology and University of Missouri are joining us for the first time, while Lesley and Ramapo are returning for the 4th time!”

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Give the Gift of Habitat

Looking for the perfect gift? Look no further! When you give to Habitat*, you build much more than houses. Houses become homes. Communities take shape. And dreams once out of reach before possibilities. This holiday season, please help more families host gatherings, play safely in their neighborhood, save for college, and take their first-ever family vacation. Your support changes lives in Buncombe County, so give the gift of Habitat today and cross another item off your holiday shopping list. Thank you!

* To acknowledge your gift, Habitat will send a card to your honoree. 

Please click the button below to donate and give more families the opportunity for a new start.

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ReStore Thanks Customers with Big Sale

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We’re saying thanks to the community for its ongoing support by offering 25% off storewide from 9am until 6pm on Saturday, September 13th. All ReStore merchandise – including furniture, housewares, appliances, building materials, antiques and more – will be 25% percent off! 98.1 The River will be broadcasting live from 9-11am, and free hot dogs and soft drinks will be served between noon and 2pm.

One of the highest ranked Habitat ReStores in the country, the Asheville Habitat ReStore was voted #1 Used Furniture Store in WNC by readers of Mountain Xpress, so check us out before you head anywhere else!

We are pleased to provide the community with a source for affordable home improvement items, while diverting 1,500 tons of usable material from the landfill each year!. And did you know ReStore proceeds help cover Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity’s administrative and fundraising expenses and provide funding for our building programs? So go ahead, shop — and feel good about it!

This kind of sale only happens twice each year, so come on out and see us on Saturday, September 13th from 9am until 6pm. Find a bargain and help us build and repair more homes in Buncombe County – without even lifting a hammer!

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23 Years and Still Going Strong

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Last Friday, under a hot end-of-summer sun, we kicked off Labor Day weekend “Habitat-style”. With the help of local United Methodist and Presbyterian churches, Elisabeth Pallante and her husband Joshua London celebrated new beginnings as they raised the very first wall of their new home.

Local Presbyterian and United Methodist churches have been helping Asheville Area Habitat build homes for 23 years now; each year renewing their commitment to provide funds and volunteers to help build. This year, members of the various congregations along with the London-Pallante family and Habitat staffers socialized over lunch before raising the first wall. View pictures here.

We are grateful to these sponsoring Presbyterian Churches (PC) and United Methodist Churches (UMC):

Abernethy UMC
Asbury Memorial UMC
Central UMC
Christ UMC
Francis Asbury UMC
Grace UMC
Groce UMC
Oak Hill UMC
Oakley UMC
Sardis UMC
Skyland UMC
Snow Hill UMC
St. Paul’s UMC
Trinity UMC		 Black Mountain PC
Christ Community Church – Montreat
First Presbyterian Church of Asheville
Grace Covenant PC
New Hope PC
Reems Creek-Beech PC
Warren Wilson PC
West Asheville PC

And did you know that each home’s lot has a sponsor that helps to offset the cost of purchasing and developing the land for the home. An Adopt-a-Lot sponsor donates $10,000 and a challenge grant supports the remaining $5,000 needed for each lot. We are grateful for this home’s Adopt-a-Lot sponsors: David M. Greiner & James A. Gray.

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Habitat Welcomes Jill Franklin Home

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Originally from Asheville, NC, Jill Franklin is excited to return to her hometown and thrilled to have the opportunity to continuing working for Habitat for Humanity.

Recently hired as Family Selection Coordinator, Jill will be responsible for administering and documenting the family selection application process for our homeownership and home repair programs. This is familiar territory for Jill who has spent the past eight years in the same position at Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte (NC).

Prior to her career with Habitat Jill worked in banking and brings proficiency in mortgage loan origination and processing. She is also an NC Certified Housing Counselor, trained to provide advice on buying a home, renting, defaults, foreclosures, and credit issues.

Jill holds a B.A. from Appalachian State University and a B.S.B.A, Administration and Marketing from UNC-Charlotte. When not at work, Jill can be found hiking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Welcome to the Asheville Habitat team, Jill — and welcome back to Asheville!

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Help for the Helpers

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Marion and Thelma Scott are delightful. They’re the kind of folks who make good neighbors and enhance neighborhoods. They moved to Asheville in 1995 after having lived in Norwalk, Connecticut for thirty-six years. In Connecticut Thelma was an accountant and Marion’s last work was with a cable company (where one of their three sons now works). Born in North Carolina, it was Thelma’s hope to move back to the state to be near family, particularly her mother. Upon retirement Thelma’s hope became reality, and Thelma and Marion moved to Asheville, twelve years before her beloved mother’s death. And though her mother has passed, family remains nearby as Thelma’s sister currently lives across the street.

The Scotts live in a well-kept house on a quiet, but well-traveled street in south Asheville. They are always mindful and attentive to the maintenance and care needed for their house and their yard. To the pleasure of their neighbors, the Scotts immediately took an interest in the people who lived around them. They particularly began to give attention to their aging neighbors by driving them to appointments, helping them to maintain their yards and doing other things to make their lives easier.

At one time it got to the point where Marion did not have to announce himself when he was entering one neighbor’s yard, and then when he wanted to borrow a certain tool, the neighbor said that he no longer needed to ask even for it. The neighbor soon let it be known that the tool seemed to belong more to Marion than to him. Before long the neighbor outright gave Marion the tool. Being the upright, responsible man that he is, Marion used it for the upkeep of both yards, until the neighbor’s death.

As mentioned earlier, the Scotts are attentive to their home and its ongoing maintenance needs. After following the maintenance schedule prescribed by a heating and air company for their entire tenure in the house, the heating system was not working properly. They had called the service provider several times, and each time the company employee came out to repair the furnace. Finally, the company employee surmised that the entire system needed to be replaced because it could no longer be repaired. The Scotts proceeded to get estimates for a new heating system and the cheapest one that they could find was $7,900.  This was an impossible amount because of their fixed income. And while the furnace was the major problem, the Scotts also noticed some other needs. The insulation underneath the living room floor had fallen away. There were places in their living room that the Scotts could not reach to paint. A wall was cracked and it needed to be repaired and painted. And finally the crawl space needed to be covered to prevent dust and dirt from finding its way into the living room.

It was time for the helpers to seek help of their own. Marion and Thelma had heard about the Habitat home repair program on radio station WRES and as directed, they phoned for a home repair application. Upon completing the application, they met with Habitat’s Family Selection Coordinator and he forwarded the application to the Home Repair Supervisor (Joel Johnson) who visited the Scott home to do an assessment.

Joel determined that the requested work was doable and he proceeded to get another heating company to look at the furnace. That assessment showed that the furnace was still good and it could be repaired at a reasonable cost.

Mr. and Mrs. Scott breathed a sigh of relief after Joel’s visit. The furnace has been repaired. The other repairs have also been completed and the Scotts are look forward to having their three sons, six grandchildren and all the rest of their family in their home for Christmas. Thelma said “It just wouldn’t do for my grandbabies to be cold.”

When asked about their experience with Habitat, Thelma and Marion were very complimentary. “We are grateful for the positive interaction with Habitat staff. We appreciate the professionalism exhibited by the workers and we could not be happier about the cost and terms of repayment.”

If you’d like to learn more about our Home Repair program services and qualifications, please click here.

Written by Pat Bacon, Family Support Specialist

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Enjoy a Special Evening at the Biltmore Estate to help Habitat

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Save the Date – Friday, October 10th

Asheville Area Habitat is thrilled to be the beneficiary of the 2014 Annual Biltmore Benefit, co-hosted by Colton Groome and Company. The event will take place on the evening of Friday, October 10th and funds raised will support our Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative Home Repair Program in the Shiloh Community in South Asheville.

Guests will begin the evening at the Statue of Diana at Biltmore for an outdoor reception overlooking Biltmore House and the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, an elegant four-course dinner prepared by Estate chefs, dancing… and an exciting surprise at the close of the event.

Tickets are on sale now. Purchase or pledge your Sponsorship soon before this year’s event sells out. If you would like to receive information, please call 828-225-1218 and leave your name, and mailing or email address and event information will be sent to you soon.

 

 

 

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Warren Haynes Donates $500,000 to Asheville Area Habitat  

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Christmas came early in Asheville this year when Warren Haynes presented Asheville Area Habitat with the proceeds check from the 2013 Warren Haynes Presents: The Christmas Jam — a record-breaking $500,000! Haynes who played in Charlotte, NC the night before and was enroute to Alpharetta, GA for another show, chose to stop in Asheville to make the special presentation in person. Xmas Jam proceeds now exceed $1.8 million!

“Stef and I were overwhelmed. We knew it was a good year, but we were surprised by how good,” said Haynes of the final number. The significant increase over past years was due to a number of different things he said, most notable the fact that it was a 2-night, 25th anniversary show. “Merch also sold incredibly well, we were able to keep expenses down, there was Pay-Per-View and new partners like Sierra Nevada…it were a lot of different factors.”

Executive Director, Lew Kraus notes that donations of this size are few and far between and this will go a long way to helping Habitat with the most capital intensive part of our work – acquiring and developing land. Speaking of land…

The short event was held at Habitat’s newest subdivision, Hudson Hills. Habitat offered Warren and his wife Stefani Scamardo the naming rights to recognize their long-standing commitment to and the couple chose the name to honor their young son, Hudson. Recently just a plot of land, Hudson Hills is now an active construction site and the future home of 25 single family homes, thanks in part to the generosity of Haynes and Scamardo and their successful benefit concert.

The street into the subdivision – Soulshine Court – also honors Haynes. About the name, Haynes remarked, “Soulshine is a song that resonates with many people and it’s particularly meaningful to me because it was inspired by my father. He worked hard as a single dad to raise me and my brothers in Asheville, so it’s fitting that a street named Soulshine Court will be in my hometown and that it will be a place that 25 families will call home.”

We presented Haynes with a Soulshine Court street sign. One event attendee suggested he put in his tour bus, an idea Warren seemed to like.

Read the Asheville Citizen Times article here, or view our online photo album.

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Farewell to our longtime ReStore Manager

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In 14 years of managing Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore, Jay Sloan led the store to be the 3rd in the nation for sales – out of nearly 800 ReStores! Jay served as ReStore General Manager for 12 years and stepped into a position as ReStore Donations Manager in the recent two years to “ease into retirement” while Scott Stetson (formerly Assistant Manager) took the helm as ReStore General Manager. Asheville Area Habitat sincerely thanks Jay, who retired on June 30th, for his years of service and dedication to Habitat’s mission.

Recently, Habitat staffers and volunteers gathered at the store for a celebration to wish Jay well in his retirement. Many people spoke to his accomplishments and leadership style, sharing funny stories and sincere compliments. View the photos and watch the videos.

Scott said, “Over the years, Jay has armed me with the knowledge and the skills to run one of the best performing and most respected ReStores in the country, and I’m really proud to be a part of that. Jay taught me the value of our precious volunteers. He definitely taught me valuable lessons that will stick with me for many years to come here at the ReStore.”

Lew Kraus noted that from the year Jaystarted as General Manager in 1988 to the year he stepped down, sales increased by 1,170%. “Many of you have heard me say that 30 years ago it took us 18 months to build our first [Habitat] house, and now, we are starting a new house every three and a half weeks. Much of that is due to the success of the ReStore and the money it puts into this organization—and Jay, you’ve brought us there, so thank you for that.” Proceeds from ReStore sales are a valuable source of sustainable income to the affiliate, helping to cover AAHH’s administrative and fundraising expenses and provide funding for building programs.

Jay was quick to reply: “To hear everyone speak you’d think I did this all single-handedly. Well, it doesn’t happen that way. The reason this store has performed the way it has is because of staff and volunteers. They all wanted this store to be successful and to perform well… I want to thank all of you—you’re the reason the store is where it’s at today.”

Jay is now enjoying retirement with his wife, Dorothy, in South Carolina.

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Building in Honor of Pope Francis

This May, we began construction on The Pope Francis House, the first Habitat house in the nation built in honor of the beloved leader. This house is fully (financially) sponsored by an anonymous donor; local Catholic churches will take the lead in volunteer recruitment. Catholic and non-Catholic volunteers, local and non-local groups, will be invited to participate in the build. This house will become home to the Meadows family.

The Pope Francis House broke ground on May 13th and we raised the first wall on May 21.

To see photos from the wall raising, click here. To see the news coverage on WLOS, click here.

The purpose of this house is threefold:

• To honor Pope Francis for his commitment to social justice and reinvigorating the Catholic Church;
• To provide a unifying, celebratory opportunity for both Catholic and non-Catholic volunteers to work together towards a common goal (as Pope Francis says, “Work confers dignity.”); and
• To further Habitat’s mission of building and preserving homes.

Being built on an infill lot on Jeffress Avenue in Shiloh, the Pope Francis House is just around the corner from the Shiloh Community Garden, where Habitat helped build a garden shed and raised beds in 2013. Habitat also completed a number of Home Repair projects in the Shiloh community in the last few years and starting in 2016, ten new Habitat houses will be built just up the road off Taft Avenue.

“It is our hope, and that of the donor, that this project will serve as a model for other Habitat affiliates to partner with local Catholic churches and build in honor of Pope Francis,” said Lew Kraus, Executive Director of Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.

Interested in bringing a group to volunteer on this house? Please contact Stephanie.

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