Spring Newsletter
(910) 295-1934
Update from Our Director
2022 Habitat Gala Festivities

Last year on April 18th, 2021, we looked back at the previous night’s gala festivities and couldn’t believe it. As one of the first in-person events in the community as Covid was easing up (or so we thought at the time), we exceeded our $110,000 goal with less than half of our regular attendance. We not only exceeded the goal – we nearly doubled it! We were fully prepared to see a much more subdued total at this year’s event, thinking the Covid “bump” was behind us. 

Well, you proved us wrong, and to that, we say “THANK YOU!!!!” Karen Dulmage and her incredible team and Stacy Lebak who runs all of our Habitat events. The event had been in planning for nearly a year – and their hard work was evident!

We enjoyed a beautiful April evening on the veranda to start the night – and our VIP guests who purchased sponsorships for $1,000 or more enjoyed an extra hour of fun during the VIP cocktail hour. Guests enjoyed Dr. Ryan Book from Sandhills Community College on the guitar, and each received a memorable takeaway gift provided by the gala committee. Our evening kicked off with a celebration of four Habitat volunteers who recently hit a major milestone of 5,000 volunteer hours. David Page, Nancy Kees, Mary Cunningham and Alan Quirion have graced us with their time, talent and humor for many years – and we were thrilled to have the chance to recognize their efforts. Alan remained on stage with us as he also was among our Golden Hammer recipients who have generously donated a lifetime sum of $30,000. 
Along with Alan, we recognized Tom & Kathy Beddow, Cele Bryant, Al & Pat Beranek, and Wayne & Alice Robbins in this prestigious group. After a brief recap of the year and a delicious filet, we moved into the auction part of the evening. With eleven live auction items, the committee outdid themselves and raised over $32,000 in the live auction alone. Added to that total was $156,000 in Build A House donations. In all, the event raised over $255,000! We are excited to put these gifts to work on many upcoming projects.

Peace and Grace,
Amie Fraley - Executive Director
Judy & David Page
Karen Dulmage & Robin Graham
Charles & Cami Gregg
Chris & Loni Belyea
Darla and Keith Moneymaker
Shelley, Madison, & Aaron Cooper
Mickey & Tammy Foster
Mary Cunningham & Dan Joslin
Rita Hairston & Diane Wilson
Special Announcement
Habitat Expands Income Bracket

The housing industry faces unprecedented challenges leaving many residents without affordable housing. In response to the lack of local affordable housing for the “missing middle” income earners, Habitat is increasing its upper-income limits from 60% of the county’s median income to 80%. Habitat has been working on expanding production financially and through partnerships with mission-minded for-profit builders to change the face of affordable housing. We are determined to create a community that values local employees at every level of the workforce in our health systems, hospitality, and other vital industries.
From our perspective, there are two “missing middles” in housing – the first is the housing stock that meets the needs of a low to a moderate-income household. A townhome, duplex, and condo can be built and sold at a lower price. So we are partnering with fellow affiliates who are already working in multi-family properties. We are assessing our mortgage products to meet the needs of as many households as possible.

With the changing housing landscape in our community, we realized we needed to choose between serving just a few families each year or serving as a leader in local affordable home production and preservation. We are excited about the opportunity to create impactful change for our housing stock and families. Our vision is one in which everyone has a safe and affordable place to call home, and we believe our model has proven to be the best way to make that vision possible. We appreciate the interest from our local governments in pursuing solutions for our community. We are eager to partner with them and serve the families working locally who want to live affordably in our community.

To learn more, contact Amie Fraley at afraley@sandhillshabitat.org
Where are they Now?
Homeowners in the Spotlight

Dorothy Allbrooks moved in to her Southern Pines Habitat home in 2006. Dorothy has never missed a mortgage payment and will soon pay off her mortgage. At the time of her application she had worked at First Health of the Carolinas. She retired this last December from Fox Hollow Senior Living.
Dorothy has a married daughter who lives in Carthage and a son who also lives in Moore County.  She smiles when she says she has grandchildren and great grans.

Dorothy continues to learn. She likes to read, especially self help books, and enjoys using her computer. She also enjoys sewing and sometimes does alterations for others.  She describes her Habitat home as a blessing. She is thankful for the opportunity to own her home.  
Dorothy Allbrooks & Janet Lowry
June Faith Relations Meeting
Please join us for our Faith Relations Meeting June 15th
at 12:00 pm at Sacred Heart Catholic Church at 300 Dundee Road in Pinehurst. We are looking for community partners and volunteers to advocate for affordable housing.
Apostle Build Dinner
Great time, good food, and excellent company at the Habitat Dinner and Fundraiser at St. Joseph of the Pines! Thank you to everyone who came out to support affordable housing in the pines. Great to see old friends and make new friends!
Many thanks to the team at St. Joseph for the warm welcome and to the residents for joining us!
Volunteers on the Construction Site
Using VolunteerHub

We rely heavily on volunteer support to build our homes, and we are always recruiting. Many times, we have said, “The beauty of Habitat is that if we have too many volunteers, we will just build more homes!” We are increasing our new home production by 40% this year! Still, supply chain issues and subcontractor staffing shortages impact many facets of life, especially home construction. 

We are pleased to see so many new faces and welcome back volunteers that we haven't seen since pre-covid. Our volunteer teams are growing, and days are now in-demand! We invest in VolunteerHub to help prepare our construction schedule and provide you with the best volunteer experience possible. We have been so successful that our rate of no-shows this spring has dropped dramatically, changing our estimations of how long our builds will take. Go to our website at www.sandhillshabitat.org and click the big blue button to volunteer.
We also encourage volunteers to sign up on VolunteerHub as soon as they are committed to joining us, as this helps us project the amount of work we can accomplish each day. We appreciate the grace and understanding you have for our team as we continue to navigate the challenges facing the entire construction world, especially at Habitat. We believe we are doing important work that cannot wait until things are more accessible. Thank you for building with us – nearly 600 families in our community have partnered with us through homeownership or repair.
Because of you, they have a safe and affordable place to call home.
Celebrating Two Dedications in July
Apostles Build
Shanetta Strong
Women Build
Elise Watkins
Apostle Build Home Dedication
Wednesday, July 6th at 6:00 pm
1110 Keyser Street | Aberdeen
Women Build Home Dedication
Thursday, July 7th at 6:00 pm
1106 Keyser Street | Aberdeen
May Habitat Faith Relations Lunch
Hosted by Freedom Baptist Church

Deacon Earnest Strickland blessed the meal Pastor Ronnie McLean and his team prepared. We viewed a video of various Habitat builds during mealtime, including the recent Pastors Build Day. Dan Joslin, Faith Relations Coordinator, shared the words noted below in the MOMENTS. The short version is to “LOVE GOD. LOVE OTHERS.” Dan repeated the words of Shanetta Strong; our 2022 Apostles Build homeowner. Shanetta voiced what homeownership meant for her, “Security and our forever home.” It was a powerful testimony indeed.
Deacon Strickland shared words on his faith and support for the mission of Habitat, recalling a friend who is a Habitat homeowner who has paid off her mortgage. He also talked about overcoming his anxiety about visiting a troubled area near his home church and found it valuable to see the challenges confronting many people when he did.

Amie Fraley, Executive Director of this affiliate, reported on repair work ongoing in various areas of Richmond and other counties. She called for a robust showing of the faith community on September 15 as we sought teams to kick off our Richmond County 2022 build.

Dan noted a few upcoming faith relations lunch meetings (FRLM): August 17 at Hamlet FBC; September 21 at Poplar Springs in Addor in Moore County; and October 19 at Rockingham First UMC. Addor is in southern Moore County and is very accessible from most areas of Richmond County. The next FRLM will be on June 15 and held at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pinehurst. All our encouraged to come!

Faith Moment

Shema, the twice-daily Jewish prayer, begins in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 with “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” In Mark 12:28, Jesus is asked which commandment is the most important? Jesus answers in Mark 12:29-31, “The most important one is this, Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, mind, and strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Later in the rabbinic times of oral Torah, a would-be proselyte asked Rabbi Hillel to “Teach me Judaism while standing on one foot.” Hillel responded, “No problem. That which is hateful unto you, do not do unto your friends; the rest (of the Torah) is commentary, go and learn.” Recently I heard United Methodists offer an even more condensed version of Jesus’ message. One of these churches has tee shirts that say it rather succinctly, LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS. I share these words today to say that our mission at Habitat is to express our love of God by loving others.
Deep faith in God, as defined in the Shema and made actionable in the words of Jesus and Rabbi Hillel, is our foundation that guides our building of the literal foundations of hope for our neighbors. 

Thank you for reading these Minutes and Moment, 
Dan Joslin, Habitat Faith Relations Coordinator
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