Habitat for Humanity invites public to wall-raising event at eighth house sponsored by Thrivent Builds

The public is invited to attend a ceremonial (but literal) wall-raising on Friday, June 12 at noon, at the local Habitat for Humanity’s newest building site. The house — located on lot 20 of the Hudson Hills subdivision — is the eighth one in Buncombe County sponsored by Habitat’s building partner Thrivent Builds.

Here is the full release from Habitat:

As Asheville faces an affordable housing crisis, longtime partner Thrivent Builds has committed to sponsoring its 8th Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity house in Buncombe County. This year’s house will be built in Habitat’s Hudson Hills subdivision in West Asheville. The first wall will be raised on Friday, June 12th at noon. The public is invited to join the wall-raising celebration (visit ashevillehabitat.org for directions).

Local Habitat for Humanity representatives and Thrivent Financial members will speak during a short program before attendees will literally raise the first wall of the new home with the Ion and Natalya Hodoroaba, the Habitat partner family that will purchase the home with a 0% interest mortgage from Habitat.

This new home is a result of a partnership between Habitat for Humanity International and Thrivent Financial called Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity. The partnership has resulted in more than 3,500 Habitat homes across the country and around the world being built or repaired since 2005. Thanks to the nearly 2.4 million members of Thrivent Financial, and other volunteers, Thrivent Builds is able to contribute to the improvement of communities like Asheville. Thrivent Financial contributed 50 percent of the house costs—a total of $75,693. Additionally, four local Lutheran churches and the local Thrivent chapter have been involved for years and will join in the partnership again this year by volunteering and raising $10,000 towards the build. They are: Abiding Savior, Church of the Nativity, Emmanuel, and St. Mark’s.

“This is the eighth home in Buncombe County sponsored by Thrivent Builds. We are profoundly grateful for Thrivent’s support and involvement in our community,” said Betsy Warren, Sponsorship Coordinator for Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.

The Hodoroaba family is more than a little eager to finish construction of their new home. They will complete 400 hours of “sweat equity” helping to build it, a basic tenet of Habitat for Humanity. They will also repay the 0% interest mortgage over a period of 30 years, illustrating Habitat for Humanity’s objective to give families a “hand up” rather than a “hand out.”

About Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity:
Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity has welcomed 270 Buncombe County families to safe, decent and affordable houses since 1983. Habitat homes, which are Green Built NC certified, are sold at no-profit to partner families, who pay back a 0% interest loan. The non-profit also offers a home repair program for low-income homeowners. Learn more about Asheville Area Habitat by visiting ashevillehabitat.org.

Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity is a multi-year, multi-million dollar mission partnership between Thrivent Financial and Habitat for Humanity International. Thrivent Builds is designed to involve Thrivent members and Christians in helping provide a “hand up” to people in need of affordable housing, offering them a path to greater economic independence. Excluding government funding, Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity is Habitat’s largest single source of funding, constructing and repairing more than 3,500 homes in the U.S. and around the world since 2005. For more information, visit ThriventBuilds.com.

Thrivent Financial is a financial services organization that helps Christians be wise with money and live generously. We offer a broad range of products and services – including life insurance, annuities and mutual funds – along with guidance from financial representatives nationwide. For more than a century we’ve helped our nearly 2.4 million member-owners make wise money choices that reflect their values. And we provide opportunities for them to be even more generous where they live, work and worship.

For more information, visit Thrivent.com. Also, you can find us on Facebook and Twitter.

Habitat for Humanity International’s vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Anchored by the conviction that housing provides a critical foundation for breaking the cycle of poverty, Habitat has helped more than 4 million people construct, rehabilitate or preserve homes since 1976. Habitat also advocates to improve access to decent and affordable shelter and supports a variety of funding models that enable families with limited resources to make needed improvements on their homes as their time and resources allow.

As a nonprofit Christian housing organization, Habitat works in more than 70 countries and welcomes people of all races, religions and nationalities to partner in its mission. For more information, to donate or to volunteer, please visit Habitat.org.