As Asheville faces an affordable housing crisis, longtime partner Thrivent Builds has committed to sponsoring its 8th Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity house in Buncombe County. This year’s house will be built in Habitat’s Hudson Hills subdivision in West Asheville. The first wall will be raised on Friday, June 12th at 12noon. The public is invited to join the wall-raising celebration (visit ashevillehabitat.orgfor directions). Local Habitat for Humanity representatives and Thrivent Financial members will speak during a short program before attendees will literally raise the first wall of the new home with the Ion and Natalya Hodoroaba, the Habitat partner family that will purchase the home with a 0% interest mortgage from Habitat.
This new home is a result of a partnership between Habitat for Humanity International and Thrivent Financial called Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity. The partnership has resulted in more than 3,500 Habitat homes across the country and around the world being built or repaired since 2005. Thanks to the nearly 2.4 million members of Thrivent Financial, and other volunteers, Thrivent Builds is able to contribute to the improvement of communities like Asheville. Thrivent Financial contributed 50 percent of the house costs—a total of $75,693. Additionally, four local Lutheran churches and the local Thrivent chapter have been involved for years and will join in the partnership again this year by volunteering and raising $10,000 towards the build. They are: Abiding Savior, Church of the Nativity, Emmanuel, and St. Mark’s.
“This is the eighth home in Buncombe County sponsored by Thrivent Builds. We are profoundly grateful for Thrivent’s support and involvement in our community,” said Betsy Warren, Sponsorship Coordinator for Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity.
The Hodoroaba family is more than a little eager to finish construction of their new home. They will complete 400 hours of “sweat equity” helping to build it, a basic tenet of Habitat for Humanity. They will also repay the 0% interest mortgage over a period of 30 years, illustrating Habitat for Humanity’s objective to give families a “hand up” rather than a “hand out.”