It is exciting that the local partnership we’ve enjoyed at Habitat Wake for years has now become a national partnership to benefit Habitat affiliates across the country!  PlyGem, a Cary-based manufacturer of exterior building products announced yesterday that they would supply their products (windows, siding, stone, etc.) to 300 Habitat for Humanity homes across the country in the 2016 Home Builders Blitz.  They also announced a marketing campaign with country music star, Alan Jackson.

Recently, I had the blessing of travelling with NC State student, Habitat campus leader, and Habitat Wake board member Sarah Paluskiewicz and Raleigh ReStore manager, Eric Moe, to attend a conversation on leadership between Habitat for Humanity International CEO, Jonathan Reckford and Wake Forest University President Nathan Hatch.

For Amy and Joel Huenaman, volunteering with Habitat Wake is entirely different from their first time, two decades ago.

“Our first time volunteering we were in Cary and we spent most of our time in ‘stand around mode’ trying to figure out what to do, says Joel. “Now that we are more experienced we need less direction; we are able to take more initiative”

The industrious couple first learned about Habitat for Humanity through their church, Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian. Now Amy and Joel have regularly worked as volunteers for 2 years.

Very good article from The Independent on the need for affordable housing in Raleigh and what the City is planning to do about it:

Habitat for Humanity International released its annual Shelter Report On World Habitat Day, October 5.  This year’s report entitled, Level the Field: Ending gender inequality in land rights.  Here is a brief synopsis of the report:

“The need for housing does not end at your county line.” -Frank Reed, Habitat for Humanity International

Lisa Hughet spent more than two decades conducting corporate and sales training for a large technology company and a multi-national pharmaceutical company. Now she spends her free time training Habitat volunteers to swing a hammer and use a caulk gun.

"There's nothing worth more, that could ever come close 

No thing can compare--you're our living hope 

Habitat for Humanity of Wake County is one of nearly 40 Habitat affiliates partnering with Valspar, Habitat’s national paint partner, and Wells Fargo, to launch A Brush with Kindness Week Sept. 19-26.  A Brush with Kindness Week is a nationwide effort to transform neighborhoods by painting, providing minor exterior home repairs, landscaping and cleaning up yards in partnership with more than 130 low-income homeowners, many of whom are elderly or have a disability. Locally, 100 Habitat for Humanity volunteers will work on five projects nextWednesday Sept. 23 – Saturday, Sept.

Today, I am traveling with Habitat Wake board member, Michelle Pavliv, to visit and participate in Habitat for Humanity's work in the central African nation of Malawi. We are traveling with a group organized by Habitat for Humanity International that consists of staff and board members from a number of US Habitat affiliates. It is a blessing to be able to connect with our partners around the world. We began supporting the work of Habitat Malawi financially earlier this year as part of our global strategy of Habitat Wake.