Press release
from Asheville Habitat for Humanity
Students from Asheville Christian Academy and Christ School are learning about the need for affordable housing in Asheville – and have made a serious commitment to do something about it. This past Friday and Saturday, 18 students and advisors from the schools attended a two-day workshop hosted by Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity to learn the skills they’ll need to lead their peers in raising over $18,000 at each school, totaling more than $36,000. They money will be used to build a Habitat for Humanity home in Swannanoa.
Previously only interacting as rivals, the students are excited to work together for the first time to raise the money they’ve pledged. In addition to the work they’ll do together in preparation for what they’ve dubbed the Habitat Student Build, the students will unite in the spring of 2013 to volunteer on the jobsite of their sponsored Habitat house. Their tagline highlights an attitude towards teamwork and the importance of this build: “One home, two schools, everyone’s future”.
At the two-day workshop, these student-leaders learned about Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity’s model: after volunteering hundreds of sweat-equity hours, a qualified partner family purchases their home with a 0 percent interest, 30-year mortgage. Volunteers help to make the cost of the home affordable, and sponsorship pays for a percentage of the up-front cost of building the home. In a cycle of giving, the family’s mortgage payments will help to pay additional building costs for future Habitat families’ homes, just as current Habitat homeowners’ mortgage payments will help pay for the construction of their house now.
The students also learned about communication and fundraising tactics, advocacy ideas, and volunteer recruitment. Both schools have already held fundraisers to start collecting the money to sponsor the house. If you are interested in making a donation towards the Habitat Student Build, please contact Asheville Area Habitat’s Administrative Office at 828.251.5702 or visit ashevillehabitat.org and click on “donate”.
About Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity
Since 1983, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity has welcomed 238 Buncombe County families to safe, decent and affordable houses. Habitat homes, which are Green Built North Carolina certified, are sold at no-profit to partner families, who pay back a no-interest loan. The non-profit also offers a home repair program for low to moderate income homeowners. Visit ashevillehabitat.org for more information.
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