Homeownership

Joann Blumenfeld is an energetic, resourceful teacher at a Wake County middle school who says that lessons she learned through Habitat for Humanity set the course for her and her family. The crux of what Joanne teaches her children is simple: Work hard. Focus on school. Give back.

Habitat for Humanity of Wake County is excited to serve on the host team for the national Christian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference coming to Raleigh/Durham in September.  

Last Tuesday, Habitat Wake dedicated the Holloway family home on Parnell Street. Deonna Holloway chose to build in the Long Acres neighborhood of Raleigh. This effort is part of a Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) that is committed to bettering the communities in which our homeowners live.

In May, Marva Robinson stood with Jim Wells from the Lion’s Club and held a flame to her mortgage, dropping it on the pavement behind the Habitat Wake ReStore as staff and Board members applauded. “It feels good,” she says about paying off her mortgage. “I’ve achieved another goal. It was hard sometimes, but when I say I’m going do something, I’m going to do it!”

For more than four decades, Debbie rented a house in the Long Acres neighborhood located off Poole Road in Raleigh. The home was substandard in many areas, including electricity and plumbing. Debbie was more than ready to purchase a home of her own. In fact, about 10 years ago, one of Debbie’s friends encouraged her to apply for a home with Habitat. But it wasn’t until Habitat planned to build in the same neighborhood where she has lived nearly her whole life that Debbie finally applied.

As a single father to two teenagers, Ricky says his kids are his inspiration. “My son and daughter are my priority,” he says. “I want to leave something behind for them when I am gone, something my parents weren’t able to do.”