Georgia Gives on Giving Tuesday: Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity is fundraising for seniors in need of home repairs
Media Contact
Name: Trisha Pintavorn
Title: Marketing and Communications Manager at
Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity
E-mail: Trisha.Pintavorn@schabitat.org
Office: 770-477-2367
Mobile: 404-694-0507
JONESBORO, GA [November 1, 2017] —Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity (SCHFH) is joining 2,000 other Georgia nonprofits this month as they participate in Georgia Gives on Giving Tuesday. Georgia Gives is a statewide event run by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits that helps the community balance holiday “getting” with community “giving.”
Georgia Gives on Giving Tuesday will happen this year on November 28th, 2017, the Tuesday following Thanksgiving. SCHFH is asking the South Metro Atlanta area community to come together to help low-to-moderate income seniors with home repairs in Fayette, Henry, and Clayton counties. Last year, SCHFH raised more than $7,000 towards building a home for a veteran in need. This year, SCHFH hopes to raise $10,000 for senior home repairs.
“Unfortunately, our wait list for home repairs has grown longer and longer. We simply don’t have enough funding for all of the repairs this year. Right now, there are a dozen senior homeowners in need,” said Cynthia E. Jenkins, CEO of Southern Crescent Habitat. “Seniors are especially vulnerable since many are living on fixed incomes. They want to stay in the homes that they have purchased, but they are in need of accessibility improvements as they age in place.”
All month long, Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity will be highlighting the stories of the senior homeowners in need of repairs. One homeowner, Volicia Scott, is a senior living in Fayetteville, Georgia. Her home has damage from a leaking roof. She fostered kids throughout her life, and currently works with homeless people with HIV at a small nonprofit. As a senior, she adopted two of the children that she was fostering: a 15-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy with special needs.
“At this point, I’m not ahead of this house. Now, we’re having a lot of rain and I find that the roof is leaking. I would love to be able to leave [this house] to these children if I can, if it’s liveable,” says Ms. Scott.
Another homeowner, Gloria Saussy, lives in Riverdale. She also has a leaking roof that has caused a hole to open up in her garage ceiling. She is a single mother of 3 and worked for 40 years as an office manager before having to retire due to disabilities.
“Water coming into my home is what got me,” says Ms. Saussy. “It started in the garage and so it started very small, I didn’t notice it at first, and the next thing I noticed was that the hole kept getting bigger and bigger. Then water started coming through my chimney, and in my living room, there are some water spots coming in.”
Perhaps most dire of all is the home of Gloria and Alvin Johnson, seniors living in Jonesboro, GA. The roof is leaking in multiple places, opening up a hole in their bedroom, causing their living room to sag. Mold has become a problem as well.
The couple tries their best to keep their faith and hopes up: “At least we’re not under the bridge. That’s how we look at it. I just pray on it. If God sees it fit for us to have it, He’ll put it there,” says Mrs. Johnson.
SCHFH hopes to raise $10,000 in order to help complete some of these repairs.
“We know that $10,000 is a tall order, but we are confident that our community can come together and raise the funds needed,” said Cynthia E. Jenkins.
Donors can give online at schabitat.org/gagivesday or mail checks to 9570 Tara Blvd. Jonesboro, GA 30236, written out to “Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity.”
ABOUT SOUTHERN CRESCENT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY:
Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit housing ministry that helps low-income families find opportunity, achieve stability, and improve their quality of life. SCHFH builds stronger families and neighborhoods by partnering with donors and volunteers to construct attractive and affordable homes, to repair existing homes, and to address community needs through neighborhood revitalization. Since its founding in 1986, SCHFH has built 200 homes and repaired 150 homes.
ABOUT GA GIVES ON GIVING TUESDAY:
GAgives, rooted in the Thanksgiving season, has raised more than $13.5 million in donations for nearly 2,700 Georgia nonprofits since 2012. Led by the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, the GAgives initiative maintains an online fundraising platform, GAgives.org, free to use for any registered 501c3 in the state; it also helps teach and mobilize everyone with a stake in the community – organizations, corporate sponsors, government agencies, media partners, and citizens – to raise awareness and support for nonprofits.
ABOUT THE GEORGIA CENTER OF NONPROFITS:
The Georgia Center for Nonprofits builds thriving communities by helping nonprofits succeed. Through a powerful mix of advocacy, solutions for nonprofit effectiveness, and insight building tools, GCN provides nonprofits, board members and donors with the tools they need to strengthen organizations that make a difference on important causes throughout Georgia. Learn more at gcn.org.
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