Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity was recently awarded $20,000 by the Janirve Legacy Fund to hire a Home Repair Manager for the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI), a home repair program for low-income homeowners in Buncombe County. Begun in 2010, NRI has already preserved more than 30 existing homes for area residents who would not have been able to afford the needed repairs on their own, including many elderly homeowners and people with disabilities. Until now, NRI has utilized the non-profit’s existing construction and support services staff to grow the program, adding an efficient process for home repair to the ongoing mission of building new affordable, energy-efficient homes for low and moderate income families. In 2013, Asheville Area Habitat plans to repair more than 30 homes for Buncombe County families, while continuing its mission of building new homes.
Habitat for Humanity International selected Asheville Area Habitat as one of 50 affiliates out of 1,500 nationwide to pilot the home repair program. NRI has more than doubled the number of families the local affiliate is able to serve each year, stretching the resources of the organization’s staff. This grant allows Asheville Area Habitat to bring on a manager for the repair program, which aims to triple the number of families served annually. A Home Repair Manager will not only allow the program to serve more households and to take on more extensive repair projects, but will expand the program’s outreach to work more closely with other community development associations in improving area neighborhoods.
The Janirve Legacy Fund is part of the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, a non-profit serving eighteen counties in Western North Carolina. The Community Foundation is a permanent regional resource that facilitates more than $8 million in charitable giving annually. CFWNC inspires philanthropy and mobilizes resources to enrich lives and communities in Western North Carolina. More information can be found at www.cfwnc.org.
Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit ministry that fosters community by partnering with qualified families and individuals to build new houses and preserve existing homes. In thirty years of service, Asheville Habitat has built and sold (at no-profit) 242 safe and affordable homes in Buncombe County and is currently the largest builder of GreenBuilt NC certified homes in the state. More information is available at www.ashevillehabitat.org.