Wells Fargo Commits to Rebuilding Neighborhoods in South Metro Atlanta with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity

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Contact:
Elias Makres, Board President
eliasmakres@gmail.com
9570 Tara Blvd.
Jonesboro, GA 30236
770-477-2367

PRESS RELEASE 

Wells Fargo Commits to Rebuilding Neighborhoods in South Metro Atlanta with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity

Jonesboro, GA [January 9, 2017] – The Wells Fargo Housing Foundation Priority Markets Program has granted $80,000 to the revitalization and rebuilding of neighborhoods in South Metro Atlanta with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity.

Since 2011, Wells Fargo Housing Foundation has committed over $300,000 towards Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity’s housing initiatives. Specifically, the Foundation has helped Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity launch its home repair program and supported home repair projects in Clayton and Henry County.  To date, Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity has served over 130 families through this home repair program.

The Wells Fargo Housing Foundation Priority Markets Program’s new grant will fund Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity’s Neighborhood Revitalization initiative, an approach to community development that addresses the needs of entire communities rather than Habitat’s traditional model of individual households.

Through its Neighborhood Revitalization initiative, Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity partners with local residents, community groups, housing leaders, and local businesses to transform neighborhoods and enhance residents’ quality of life. Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity first implemented the program in 2011 in the Normandy neighborhood of College Park in Clayton County, where they have completed over 20 projects including community gardens, home repairs, a live mural painting, community clean ups and safety walks after surveying residents on what issues mattered to them most. Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity will use these new funds from Wells Fargo to spread their Normandy-proven Neighborhood Revitalization model to other South Metro Atlanta areas.

“We value the partnership with Wells Fargo,” said Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity Development Manager Trisha Pintavorn. “Their sustained commitment shows they care about our communities and quality of life. We truly cannot thank them enough for helping us fulfill our mission of building homes, community, and hope.”

About The Wells Fargo Housing Foundation

In 2014, the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation donated nearly $20 million in support of affordable housing initiatives serving low to moderate-income households – including for seniors, veterans, and families – through community revitalization efforts. Since its inception in 1993, the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation has invested more than $150 million to such efforts, along with mobilizing more than 4.6 million team member volunteer hours to build and rehabilitate more than 5,500 homes and counting.

About Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity

Southern Crescent Habitat For Humanity (SCHFH) helps low-income families find opportunity, stability and improve their quality of life. SCHFH helps build stronger families and neighborhoods through homeowner education which includes financial literacy and by partnering with donors and volunteers to construct attractive, affordable homes and to repair existing homes. SCHFH has created opportunities for hardworking people to own an attractive and affordable home. To qualify they must have a stable job with a 2-year tenure, spend more than 1/3 of their monthly income on rental housing, meet income requirements and invest 300 hours in sweat equity (building homes) and homeownership education (financial and home maintenance). SCHFH has helped over 300 families in South Atlanta, and more information can be viewed on their website, www.schabitat.org.

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SCHFH Teams Up with Warrick Dunn Charities for the Surprise of a Lifetime

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Jonesboro, GA [November 22, 2016] – Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity teamed up with Warrick Dunn Charities for the surprise of a lifetime. When Rickita pulled up to her new Habitat home on the morning of November 22, she thought she was just going to have a simple Home Dedication with Southern Crescent Habitat volunteers, her family and her friends. But she knew something was going on when she saw over 60 people in her front yard as well as a dozen cameras and different news crews.

Rickita walked into her home and found out that Warrick Dunn furnished her entire home for their “Home for the Holidays” initiative, free of charge, just in time for the holidays! Many tears were shed, and we thank them from the bottoms of our hearts!

We would also like to thank the wonderful people who worked on Kita’s home, including our construction team, the Atlanta Dream WNBA team, educators and administrators from the Fulton County school system, students from Clayton State University,  and our Grey Ghosts.

About Warrick Dunn Charities
Warrick Dunn Charities is a a 501(c)(3) recognized nonprofit that has helped single parents and children thrive academically, socially and economically. Warrick Dunn, former all-pro running back and philanthropist, began “Homes for the Holidays” during his rookie season in the NFL to honor his late mother, Betty Smothers. Ms. Betty was a Baton Rouge police officer and single mother who was killed while working an off-duty assignment.

About Southern Crescent Habitat For Humanity
Southern Crescent Habitat For Humanity (SCHFH) helps low income families find opportunity, stability and improve their quality of life. SCHFH helps build stronger families and neighborhoods through homeowner education which includes financial literacy and by partnering with donors and volunteers to construct attractive, affordable homes and to repair existing homes. SCHFH has created opportunities for hard working people to own an attractive and affordable home. To qualify they must have a stable job with a 2-year tenure, spend more than 1/3 of their monthly income on rental housing, meet income requirements and invest 300 hours in sweat equity (building homes) and home ownership education (financial and home maintenance). SCHFH has helped over 300 families in South Atlanta, and would like to invite you to be apart of our mission to double that by 2020.

Deborah Powell: One Veteran Homeowner’s Habitat Home Repair Story

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Meet Deborah Powell. A transplant to Georgia, she is a retiree out of the U.S. Air Force and an ordained minister at Hind’s Feet Prophetic Worship Center. She volunteers regularly with the Clayton County Sheriff’s Department, teaching Bible studies to women inmates on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, spreading messages of hope and love.

SCHFH recently accepted Deborah to our Veteran and home repair program, and we have been able to have her kitchen appliances updated, her flooring redone, her roof repaired, and other repairs to her home completed. Deborah asks all SCHFH supporters to help support our veterans in honor of upcoming Veteran’s Day and Georgia Gives Day: “The average citizen can give back to a vet by making donations. When you’re asleep at night, they are over out on the field protecting you and me. And so, by giving back that’s just showing your appreciation of what they have done.”

Donations between now and November 17th, 2016 are DOUBLED thanks to a matching gift from our Board President, Elias Makres. Donors who give $50 or more are invited to attend our party at TopGolf Atlanta Midtown. Give today at schabitat.org/gagivesday.

Meet Our Newest Homeowner, Toni Tayborn

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Toni Tayborn has been part of the Habitat family since November 2015, and we are finally breaking ground on her new home this fall in the Hannah Springs neighborhood of Lovejoy, Georgia. She has been working through her “sweat equity” hours earnestly and without complaint, and we hold a special place in our hearts for her as she is also a fellow nonprofit worker at the Salvation Army. We caught up with her and asked her a few questions so that you can get to know her better.

Please tell us a little about you and your family.

My name is Toni Tayborn, and I’m a proud mother of 3 college students. Raven is 21 and will be graduating with her associate’s degree in December. Jerome is 20 and Eddie is 19 and are in their first year.

How does your family spend quality time? What are your hobbies?

We enjoy spending holidays together and talking about our time apart. We love shopping and watching movies. Since my children are away, I found comfort in my new pet yorkie, Cavalli.

Where do you work?

I work at The Salvation Army and have been with them for 5 years. I am a caseworker that provides financial assistance to families in need.

Why did you apply to be a Habitat homeowner?

I have always had a dream of owning a home. Before my father passed away, he gathered all of his children and gave us a speech on the importance of owning a home.

What are you looking forward to the most when you are a Habitat homeowner?

My personal goals are to own an affordable home and have a place for my family to enjoy. To have a clean and safe environment that is my own.

Where do you live now?

Garden Lake Apartments. My apartment is very small and has a bad odor. It is crowded outside of my door where I have to say excuse me almost everytime I walk in and out of my door. I believe the odor is coming from the pipes.

How did you hear about Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity?

I heard about the program through a client that came to my job for financial emergency assistance.

What about Habitat has been the biggest surprise to you?

The amount of volunteers and donors that make this all possible, the hope that they bring to families looking to be homeowners.

How will your life change once you move into your new home?

I will be content and without stress due to instability of moving from apartment to apartment due to rental increases each year. Owning a home means everything to me. It’s ownership, stability, and security for me and my family.

What is the first thing you are going to do in your new home?

Praise God for giving me a stable home for myself and my family, and decorate it the way I have always wanted to decorate my place but could not because it was not my own.

What would you like to say to Habitat and the volunteers that are going to help you build your new home?

I would like to thank them for making my dream possible and giving me an opportunity to own a home. I would like to thank the organization for allowing me the opportunity to make my goal and dream a reality.

Interested in helping Toni start a new life? Click here to view available dates to volunteer with the construction of her new home, or click here to make a donation. 

Lloyd Jones: A Veteran’s Journey to His First Home with Habitat for Humanity

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Meet Lloyd. Lloyd Jones spent 14 years active in the military and 6 years in the reserves, where he was stationed everywhere from Korea to Germany. An Atlanta native, he spent a lot of time looking to purchase a home, but his offers were all declined or outbid. By chance, he one day happened upon volunteers building homes by Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity.

“They were everything I wanted. A ranch. A porch. Affordable, and a great location,” Lloyd said. Thus, he made the life-changing decision to apply, and he was quickly accepted.

Lloyd now resides in the beautiful city of Lovejoy, and was even named Homeowner of the Year by Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity at our annual Golden Hammer Awards. At 59 years old, this is the first home he has ever owned. But Lloyd tells us the wait was well worth it: “As a soldier, you go to many duty stations. You go to many places so you look forward to unpacking your duffle bag, and right now, I’m in Fort Living Room in Lovejoy, Georgia!”

Want to help more veteran homeowners like Lloyd? Visit schabitat.org/gagivesday to donate today, and your donation is doubled, thanks to a generous matching gift from our Board.

 

This U.S. Navy Veteran is Going from Homeless to Habitat Homeowner!

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Kenneth Dean (pictured left, with Lovejoy Councilwoman Mary Ann Carp) is a senior veteran who grew up in Macon, Georgia. He served in the Navy for 10 years as a Hospital Corpsman, providing life-saving medical care to Naval personnel and their families, working in orthopedics. He also spent 4 years working in the Marines, and served in four campaigns, including Desert Storm.

After getting out of the military, Kenneth suffered from medical issues of his own. He had both a heart attack and a stroke that put him out of work. He spent a month in the hospital and lost the ability of speech for 3 years. Thanks to disability benefits, he was able to finance these expensive medical costs, but the mortgage payments on his former home were too much.

“Unfortunately, I lost my house when I was hospitalized, but thanks to Habitat I got a second chance to own a house. I’m really glad,” Kenneth says.

Before being accepted to our program, Kenneth was even homeless for a brief time. Thankfully, his brother took him in and helped him complete the paperwork to become a SCHFH homeowner, and we just broke ground on his new home this October with The Home Depot Foundation.

“I can confess they’ve breathed new life in me. I’m honored that they chose me for the veteran program to build and I like to always thank them for that,” Kenneth says.

We really want to bring this veteran home, but we are still trying to raise the funds to complete Kenneth’s home.

His home will be one of five homes specifically marked for veterans in the 28 new home development of Hannah Springs in Lovejoy, Georgia. Like Kenneth tells us, “It’s always good to give back. I know that because I’m receiving what they are giving so I could say thank you so much, and please give.”

Click here to donate today to bring Kenneth home!

Everything You Wanted to Know About Interning for SC Habitat

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It’s hard to believe summer’s half-way over, and while we are greatly anticipating the cooler fall weather, all of us at the offices of SC Habitat are not looking forward to saying goodbye to our summer interns, Mary Johnson (left) and Wendy Martinez (right). Before these ladies head back to school, we had the chance to talk with them about what it’s like working at SC Habitat.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Wendy: My name is Wendy. I am from Gainesville, Georgia, I go to Georgia Tech and I’m studying economics. I love going out to restaurants and eating new foods. I love food.

Mary: Well, my name Is Mary. I am a college student. I’m studying biology. I like to shop, swim, spend money, go out with friends, that’s about it!

How did you become interested in Habitat for Humanity?

Wendy: I learned about it through my friend Trisha. I think it’s a great organization and I really have always liked giving back to the community and I think this is a great way to serve people and help people out so I’m really glad that I’m doing this.

Mary: I’ve been with Habitat for over 12 years now because my mom is a homeowner with Habitat. I’ve kinda volunteered since I was small!

What’s your favorite part of working for SC Habitat?

Wendy: The people—everyone is really nice. I really like the casual culture too; I think it suits me.

Mary: The people we get to help is my favorite part: whenever I get to see a family kind of transition from the beginning stages to home ownership, what we’re really about.

What’s a typical day at the office look like for you?

Wendy: Usually I’ll come in around 9, check my e-mail, I read the news and then start on the work I need to get done—usually it involves shopping for food for the youth program and then just helping out Ciara, who is the youth program coordinator. I worked with Trisha and Justin to write a sponsorship package for our youth program, I was looking at food donations and ticket donations for field trips for the youth program. It was a lot of project planning, and a big part of my job is to make sure that we stay inside the budget and plan for expenses and look at details. I also had to be with the kids last week, and I got to teach them a few lessons during the day.

Mary: On a typical day I come in and see what tasks are at hand for the day, make a couple calls. My favorite work project so far has been summer youth camp, even though it has a lot of things to it, it’s been really fun. Accounting stuff has been a lot of fun too.

What has been your most memorable moment during your internship at SC Habitat?

Wendy: I really liked when everyone sang happy birthday to me! That was really nice of everyone.

Mary: Being in the room with the development team and having good laughs, talking with everybody!

If you were a superhero which one would you be?

Wendy: I’d be Tony Stark, because I really like the inside of his helmet.

Mary: Wonder woman because she’s the ultimate woman; she’s strong, she’s wise, and the woman version of Superman. She can do it all.

What’s your favorite quote?

Wendy: Philippians 4:13 – I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Mary: Be somebody who makes everybody feel like a somebody.

Interested in getting involved this fall? E-mail our volunteer coordinator, kiera.dunn@schabitat.org to sign up to build with us. 

Women Expanding Representation in Construction

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In recent years, more women have been finding success in skilled trade industries. In 2014, 872,000 of the 9,813,000, or 8.9 percent, of people working in the construction industry were women, reports the National Association of Women in Construction. Women’s presence in construction was increasing steadily starting in the 1980s, but an industry slump from 2007 to 2010, accompanied by the loss of more than 2.5 million construction jobs, decreased women’s representation in construction. The tide appears to be turning. Construction jobs are projected to grow by 12.7 percent through 2024, and qualified men and women will be needed to fill positions.

As the below information by Tulsa Welding School highlights, the construction industry has much to offer women because it can provide greater earning potential than traditionally female-dominated careers; fast, affordable training for easier entry into the field at any age; support from various organizations; and a choice between building a career with a variety of businesses or being your own boss.

Check out the infographic below for more information about opportunities for women in construction.

Image Courtesy of Tulsa Welding School

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Southern Crescent Habitat Challenges Women To Join The 2016 “Women Build” in Lovejoy, Georgia

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Lovejoy, GA [March 1, 2016] – Women possess all that is needed to create a dramatic change in our community. By this, Southern Crescent Habitat For Humanity (SCHFH) is gearing up for the 2016 “Women Build,” an annual project that empowers women to build homes and enable them to positively impact the lives of families by making home ownership a reality. SCHFH challenges all-women volunteer teams to come together to actively work to build a home for LaTonya Flugence and her family. Each volunteer is asked for a contribution to help fund the builds supplies and materials. Volunteer dates will take place on April 2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th at 2338 Glebe Court, Lovejoy, Georgia 30228. To register and make a contribution, please visit schabitat.org/womenbuild

Southern Crescent Habitat’s “Women Build”  is a safe haven for women to practice and excel, no matter what their skill levels. The program nurtures, recruits and train women to build and maintain simple, decent, healthy and affordable homes in their community. This year’s build is dedicated to LaTonya Flugence. Ms. Flugence is a working mother of two sons, Kavious, 20 years of age and Kyle, 17 years of age. She has volunteered at her local Habitat Restore and has successfully completed her sweat equity and is ready to move into her new home.

“I am thankful for Southern Crescent Habitat For Humanity and to the woman that are coming together to help build, support, and donate their time to invest in me,” says Flugence.

SCHFH believes that everyone deserves a decent place to live. The affiliate has created opportunities for hard working people to own an attractive and affordable home. To qualify they must have a stable job with a 2-year tenure, spend more than 1/3 of their monthly income on rental housing, meet income requirements and invest 300 hours in sweat equity (building homes) and home ownership (financial and home maintenance) education. Our organization has helped over 300 families in South Atlanta, and would like to invite you to be apart of our mission to double that by 2020.

The Women Build volunteer dates are April 2nd, 5th, 7th and 9th and can accommodate 40 volunteers per day. We are only able to hold volunteer dates with volunteer donation or sponsorship commitment.
If your organization would like to participate in the “Women Build”, please register at schabitat.org/womenbuild and get social by following our Twitter/Facebook/Instagram pages @SCHabitatfh and hashtag #SCHWomenBuild and #BuildWithSCHabitat.
The Sponsorship Deadline is March 25 to be included in promotional material.

To apply for media credentials, please contact Kiara Jones,kiara.jones@schabitat.org 

About Southern Crescent Habitat For Humanity
Southern Crescent Habitat For Humanity (SCHFH) helps low income families find opportunity, stability and improve their quality of life. SCHFH helps build stronger families and neighborhoods through homeowner education which includes financial literacy and by partnering with donors and volunteers to construct attractive, affordable homes and to repair existing homes. SCHFH has created opportunities for hard working people to own an attractive and affordable home. To qualify they must have a stable job with a 2-year tenure, spend more than 1/3 of their monthly income on rental housing, meet income requirements and invest 300 hours in sweat equity (building homes) and home ownership education (financial and home maintenance). SCHFH has helped over 300 families in South Atlanta, and would like to invite you to be apart of our mission to double that by 2020.

FOR MEDIA AND EVENT DETAILS

770.743.6684

Kiara Jones

kiara.jones@schabitat.org