Habitat for Humanity Home Builders Blitz
Three brand new homes in one week. Can it be done? It can when The Triangle Builders Guild teams up with Habitat for Humanity to help a cause in need of being championed here and around the nation! The Triangle Home Builders Guild is leading the way in helping Habitat for Humanity construct affordable housing for local residents by donating their time and resources to the annual Home Builders Blitz event. The Habitat for Humanity Builders Blitz event brings together professional home builders from all over for the shared purpose of building safe and affordable housing for families in need of a suitable place to call home. While the event is now held nationwide, it got its start right here in Raleigh, and this year’s participants include none other than our own Saussy Burbank, Sundance Signature Homes, Revolution Homes, and Winslow Custom Homes!
Wake County Triangle Home Builders Blitz – Since 2002
The annual Builders Blitz is a weeklong event that began in 2002 when Wake County home builder Tom Gipson partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build 12 Habitat homes in five days. Tom asked his fellow community builders to donate labor, secure the assistance of subcontractors, and seek donations of the needed materials, from frame to finish. The results were astounding with 12 homes completed in just five days. In 2006, the Home Builders Blitz became a national model. To date, 95 brand new affordable homes have been built in Wake County through this program. Now, as a nationwide movement, thousands of professional home builders gather each year to work alongside Habitat homeowners to help construct, repair, or restore homes, and more than 2,200 builders around the country have participated. These participants also promote fundraising with community partners and have brought along corporate sponsors like BB&T Home Mortgage, Builders Mutual Insurance Company, Martin Marietta, and Ply Gem here in Wake County. Since the countrywide program began in 2006, more than 1,850 homes have been built, and in this year’s event, an additional 250 homes were built, renovated, or repaired in more than 70 communities in 31 states!
Learning the Ropes of Home Ownership
An added upside to this program is that the beneficiaries of this event learn a great deal about the responsibilities and pride of home-ownership through the process. Homeowner applicants must demonstrate that they have the ability to pay the affordable mortgage of no more than 30% of their income, prove their willingness to be fiscally culpable by taking financial training classes and put forth hundreds of hours of sweat equity, including many hours put into the construction of their home. While Habitat for Humanity house buyers typically spend two months helping build their houses, buyers of the Home Builders Blitz houses will put their additional hours of sweat equity into building Habitat houses for other candidates and volunteering in Habitat’s ReStores, which sell donated items to the public to raise money for the organization.
Though the buyers of these new homes are grateful to have these affordable, well-constructed houses to call their own, many of the participating builders feel that they also benefit from this event. Builders are able to deepen their ties to the community, learn from and collaborate with other builders, connect with talented subcontractors, and promote their corporate sponsors for a great cause. It’s a win-win for everyone in the community! Habitat for Humanity’s Vice President Sue Henderson stated, Home Builders Blitz is a testament to the commitment of local builders to invest in their communities. Since 2002, professional builders have partnered with families to create positive ripple effects in their communities. We are so grateful for their skills, time and support.
Proudly Supported by Triangle Builders Guild Members
Our own Wake County Builders Blitz brought together seven local professional builders – including four Triangle Builders Guild members, construction experts, vendors, and subcontractors to build three safe, affordable homes in the East College Park Community near downtown Raleigh earlier this month. These homes are part of the City of Raleigh’s neighborhood revitalization efforts and included beautiful touches with features like 9-foot ceilings, large front porches, brick foundations, and custom architectural details!
As builders who care a great deal about our local community and ensuring that the rapid growth happening here in Wake County is sustainable for all or our residents, we are proud to see that this home-grown movement has taken on a life of its own and has been able to propel many of our residents forward with the leg up that affordable housing and home-ownership provide. We hope that as Raleigh and Wake County as a whole continue to grow, that this event is also something that continues to gain momentum year after year, and that it inspires other affordable housing movements to grow and take shape here. The things that make Wake County so desirable for incoming residents should also be available to our current residents, and this event is one small way we can ensure that they can afford to stay here and enjoy all that our community has to offer.
