Many of us are familiar with Trulia or its parent company, Zillow Group. Before moving to the Triangle, I spent countless hours combing through apartment listings on their website, reading characteristics of various neighborhoods and calculating possible commute times.
At Saturday’s dedication of Guesh and Marta’s home sponsored by the Methodist Coalition and Schneider Electric in Crosstowne, Rev. David Haley of Knightdale United Methodist Church shared a story of a dedication he attended years ago while he was on staff at Habitat for Humanity International. A young girl whose family’s house was being dedicated commented, “WE HAVE A HOME. WE JUST NEED A HOUSE TO PUT IT IN!”
Amen to that. What more empowering thing can a ministry do than to work alongside a family to help them realize the dreams they have for their family?
Over lunch last week, my colleague, John, told me about the challenges his community faces with transportation. John is also a Habitat Homeowner. His neighborhood is one of several off of New Hope Road in Southeast Raleigh that doesn’t have easy access to a bus line. “My neighbors –women, men, and students– walk more than a mile along roads with no sidewalks to reach the nearest bus stop,” John said. “They walk in all weather. There is an elderly gentleman that I see every day – he’s walking because he needs to catch the bus.”
It’s been a while since we’ve posted a blog entry and, well, that’s because we’ve just plain been busy!
We built an entire house on site at and during the NC State Fair. Thanks to many North Carolina building products companies and the NC Departments of Commerce, Health & Human Services and Agriculture.
We made presentations at Habitat’s state conference at Lake Junaluska in Haywood County.
We attended the NC Affordable Housing Conference in Raleigh.
We sold six homes to some amazing partner families. They were excited!
Habitat for Humanity of Wake County, Lowe's, and the North Carolina State Fair are partnering to build the "North Carolina House" during the 2016 State Fair, which opens Thursday, October 13.
The "North Carolina House" will be constructed of materials manufactured in North Carolina or sold by North Carolina-based companies, and the majority of volunteers building the house are state employees and event sponsors.
The Wake County Public School System is the nation's 16th largest public school system with a 2015-16 average daily attendance of 157,780 students.
Marquida always has been on the move. After growing up in a tiny Eastern North Carolina town, she moved to Raleigh to attend Peace College where she played basketball and participated in a Habitat mission trip. Following graduation, she married and was blessed with two beautiful, active daughters. Then she found herself a single mom.
Ever ambitious, Marquida continued to challenge herself to build a brighter future for her family. She worked at the Wake County jail and studied to advance her career, becoming a deputy with the Wake County Sheriff's Department in early 2016.
This week, the U.S. Census Bureau reported a decrease in the national poverty rate to 13.5 percent of the population with 3.5 million fewer people living below the poverty line in 2014.
Average incomes rose to $56,516 a 5.2% inflation-adjusted increase over 2014.
Some good news for a change!
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On Wednesday, Sept. 7, NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson and Susan Woodson will join project sponsors, students from the Habitat Campus Chapter at NC State University, and Habitat Wake partner families to kick off the construction of 11 new Habitat for Humanity of Wake County townhomes. The homes are a part of the historic Build-A-Block project, the largest collaboration between a Habitat campus chapter and a Habitat for Humanity affiliate. The homes are located on Kirk Avenue off Lake Wheeler Road near NC State University.
It’s been well documented over the years that homeownership has been the main driver of building individual wealth in the United States, especially among those in lower income ranges.
The nation’s housing recovery has been underway since 2012 and housing prices have recovered to near pre-recession peaks. Despite this rebound, home ownership rates have continued to drop and are currently at a 51 year low.