Under a hot end-of-summer sun, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity celebrated new beginnings with Elisabeth Pallante and her husband Joshua London as they raised the first wall of their new home being built in Habitat’s Hudson Hills neighborhood in West Asheville.
Their house is sponsored by local Presbyterian and United Methodist churches, a cherished 23 year partnership between local churches and Habitat for Humanity that is still going strong. Renewing their commitment each year, the churches provide funds and volunteers to help build the house. This year, members of the various congregations along with the London-Pallante family (bio attached) and Habitat staffers socialized over lunch before raising the first wall. View pictures here.
The participating United Methodist Churches (UMC) and Presbyterian Churches (PC) are:
Abernethy UMC
Asbury Memorial UMC
Central UMC
Christ UMC
Francis Asbury UMC
Grace UMC
Groce UMC
Oak Hill UMC
Oakley UMC
Sardis UMC
Skyland UMC
Snow Hill UMC
St. Paul’s UMC
Trinity UMC
Black Mountain PC
Christ Community Church – Montreat
First Presbyterian Church of Asheville
Grace Covenant PC
New Hope PC
Reems Creek-Beech PC
Warren Wilson PC
West Asheville PC
About the London-Pallante Family:
Joshua London and his wife, Elisabeth Pallante, decided on Asheville as a great place to live, work, and eventually start a family. Josh landed a well-paying position at the airport and life looked promising – until, after a year on the job, the company changed hands and Josh was laid off. After a few lower paying and less rewarding jobs, Josh and Bess decided Josh could increase his career options by returning to school. A Navy veteran, Josh is able to use the GI Bill to advance his education while working part-time. Bess loves the work she does as a teaching assistant at Asheville City Schools Preschool.
The family currently lives in a third-floor apartment where the rent goes up every year and the heat, which works only marginally, is very expensive. “Having a Habitat home would be a blessing because not only are the homes energy efficient,” Josh explains, “but the mortgage would be significantly less than we pay for our apartment! The extra money would allow us to save for important things, like having children and paying bills without worrying about how to buy food.”
The London-Pallante family’s 2 BR/1BA house will be a certified Green Built NC energy-efficient home. It will be the third home built in Asheville Area Habitat’s Hudson Hills
neighborhood off Johnston Boulevard in west Asheville, and is the 23rd Habitat house sponsored by local Presbyterian and United Methodist churches.