I had the great fortune of volunteering for an organization that represents my values and one of my top platform issues, housing affordability, Habitat for Humanity of Wake County. As a church member of the Cary Faith Coalition I was invited to particpate and I jumped at the opportunity. “The Cary Coalition is an ecumenical coalition of churches from the Cary area joining together to strengthen relationships while serving families in need of affordable housing.” Our work took place at Hannah Place, off of Trimble Avenue in Cary in early October.
The day started at 8am with a tour of one homes as part of the Triangle Parade of Homes. Habitat partnered to connect with supporters, interested homebuyers, and those curious about learning more about homeownership with Habitat Wake. The homes were staged with furnishings from the Habitat ReStore and is now a beautiful, budget-friendly home on Trimble Avenue in Cary.
Next up, adding walls to a foundation. This is harder than it sounds, especially when you haven’t worked on your arm muscles in about a decade. But we got the wall in place, glued, and nailed down. I was the nailer, hell bent on accomplishing nailing expertise. But the lack of arm strength petered out on me after an hour and I ended up helping to scrub paint off the floors in the staged home for the next three hours.
The staff of Habitat are professionals hired to supervise construction, staging, and all things home building and each of them I got to meet was top notch. I also met with a couple of future homeowners who have to meet strict eligibility guidelines for homeownership. A typical question is, “Does Habitat Wake give away homes to people who are low-income, disabled or on government assistance?” The short answer is no. “Habitat Wake homeowners build and purchase their homes. To qualify, applicants must have a steady income from working and/or non-working sources and must repay an affordable mortgage with on-time, full payments every month.” Homes are purchased at fair market value. You can find out more here.
Elect Amanda Murphy 