WS Chronicle

Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County (HHFC) recently met with the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity (MCWSV) at their weekly meeting to form a partnership to get information to the people of their congregations. 

George Redd, director of program services for HHFC, stated he came to the conference to spread the word about all of the services the company offers. 

Redd says he consisently gets questions from people in the community about what they offer, so he figured he would take the initiative and find ways to let the community know what they offer.

“What we are trying to do is expand, so I was thinking that if we can reach out to the churches that are in the immediate area then we can reach out to the congregations,” said Redd.  “Habitat has a lot of different programs that we offer, from financial literacy to home maintenance.”

“That was my first time speaking with the conference and hope to have them open their doors to speak with them about what it means to be a homeowner and being more involved in the community,” he continued.  “Those are the type of things that will build not only homes in the area but community as well as hope.”

Redd says many of the families they work with come from lower income households hoping to obtain homeownership one day.  He says many people also come from two or three generations of living in apartments so repairs and landscaping are foreign to them. 

“We take some of this stuff for granted that everyone knows how to cut grass, but if you have always lived in an apartment complex, you’ve seen it done but you have never done it yourself,” he said.  “We want to make sure everyone is successful in homeownership by giving everyone the correct resources they need to be successful.”

“With the minister’s conference, if I can go into one church or five churches and let them know about how Habitat homeownership works as well as the classes we offer, that would be great,” he said.

“We also open it to the community as well.  So by opening it up to the community, some people may wonder how they can get involved in those classes, also.”

HHFC not only helps individuals with homeownership and the things that come along with it, they also have a computer lab, which they allow the community to use for free.  They even offer assistance with resumes and job applications because many of their clients are under-employed.

Redd stated the person who makes a good candidate for a Habitat home is someone who is not eligible for a traditional home loan.  He also wanted to dispel the misconception that Habitat homes are free; they are not free. 

“We want people to be able to build memories, good times, love, laughter and hope and it makes me feel good knowing that if I can speak with a church and let them know what we are all about, maybe we can help out that many more people.”

For more information on Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County, visit www.habitatforsyth.org.