Aiken Co. Habitat for Humanity and the Builders Association of Aiken County broke ground on house number 75 on Friday, May 8, 2009.

   This is the fourth Builder's Blitz house in Aiken County and is for Jimera Baxley and her two children, Jasiah and Jahvier.

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on house number 74 on Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity and its partners; Rotary Club of Aiken, First Baptist Church of Aiken, First Presbyterian Church, Shaw/AREVA MOX Services, LLC and Baker Concrete Construction; broke ground on Tuesday, April 28, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. at the home's site of 217 Scott Simmons Circle in Montmorenci.  This was the first step in building an affordable home for Debra McDonald and her two sons.  This build is named for Debra's grandmother, Amanda Lott, who left this property to Debra.  It has been in her family for generations with many fond memories. 

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Habitat dedicated house #73 on Sunday, March 8, 2009.

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity and its partners; the Aiken Board of Realtors, St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church, Joe and Kay Buggy, other local companies and individuals dedicated house #73 on March 8, 2009 at the home's site of 1328 Cabinet Drive in the Kennedy Kolony area of Aiken.  The dedication was the final step in the building of a simple, well-crafted home, giving Shemeco Butler and her children; Dynisty, Dashawna and Shawn the chance to achieve home ownership.

"While the Aiken Board of Realtors has supported Habitat for Humanity over the years, this is the first time the Realtors committed to raising the majority of the funds needed to help build a Habitat house.  This was a huge undertaking for us and we have been working towards this goal of completing this home for over a year.   We are excited that this day is finally here and the Aiken Board of Realtors was truly honored and thrilled to be able to work with homeowner, Shemeco Butler, and the other volunteers in making her dream of homeownership a reality", said Kristyne Blake, Association Executive, Aiken Board of Realtors.

 

A Tear of Joy, A Moment of Prayer and Reflection

 

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity Dedicated House    # 72 on Sunday, December 14th.

 

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity and its partners Parsons and All Saints Anglican Church dedicated Habitat House # 72 on December  14th at the home’s site at 1331 Senate Drive in the Kennedy Kolony area of Aiken as the last step in building a simple, well-crafted home, giving another deserving family the chance to achieve home ownership.

 

Parsons and All Saints Anglican Church partnered with Aiken County Habitat for Humanity and new homeowner partner Pamaline Kearse and her four children to build Habitat’s House # 72.  Officials from Parsons, All Saints Anglican Church, Habitat, and city government and the homeowner partner family will gather at 3:00 PM Sunday to mark the completion of the home.  The public was invited to attend the Dedication ceremony and tour the home.

 

“The sponsorship of Parsons and All Saints Anglican Church for Pamaline Kearse’s house is greatly appreciated, especially when the economy has been entering into a recession.  The generosity of Parsons and All Saints has not only boosted Habitat’s building program, but has also opened the doors to a promising future for the whole Kearse family.  What a Christmas this is”, said Richard Church, Aiken County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director.   

“The men and women at Parsons are extremely proud to have been a part of this build. Enhancing our community is the responsibility of every good corporation”, said Mark R. Breor, Vice President and SWPF Project Manager for Parsons.

 

Aiken Board of Realtors and St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church

 

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on House # 73 on Wednesday, October 15th.

Aiken County Habitat for Humanity and its partners the Aiken Board of Realtors and St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church broke ground on October 15th at 10:00 AM at the home’s site at 1328 Cabinet Drive in the Kennedy Kolony area of Aiken as the first step in building a simple, well-crafted home, giving another deserving family the chance to achieve home ownership.

 

The Aiken Board of Realtors and St. Thaddeus Episcopal  Church are partnering with Joe and Kay Buggy, Aiken County Habitat for Humanity and new homeowner Shemeco Butler and her three children to build Habitat’s House # 73.  Officials from the Aiken Board of Realtors, St. Thaddeus Episcopal, Habitat, city government and the homeowner partner family gathered at 10:00 Wednesday, October 15th to break ground for the home. 

 

“This is an exciting moment for Habitat to have the Aiken Board of Realtors and all of their members working together to provide Shemeco Butler and her family with the opportunity to own their own home.  The sacrifice of the Realtors valuable time and their commitment to see this project through demonstrates their heartfelt dedication to changing lives in our community.  We are also grateful for our continuing relationship with St. Thaddeus Episcopal church and their willingness to support us again by helping build a home here in Aiken. Habitat is so pleased to have the Aiken Board of Realtors and St. Thaddeus as our partners and we look forward to working with both groups on this house”, said Richard Church, Aiken County Habitat for Humanity Executive Director.   

 

“While the Aiken Board of Realtors has supported Habitat for Humanity over the years this is the first time the Realtors have committed to raising the majority of the funds needed and volunteering to help build a Habitat House. This was a huge undertaking for us and we have been working towards this goal of starting construction for over a year. We are excited the day is finally here and the Aiken Board of Realtors is truly honored and thrilled to be able to work with homeowner Shemeco Butler in making her dream of homeownership a reality”, said Kristyne Blake, Association Executive, Aiken Board of Realtors.

 

Thrivent Build

 

DEDICATION CEREMONY CELEBRATES THE BEGINNING OF A NEW CHAPTER IN LOCAL FAMILY’S LIFE

 

Building on their dream of homeownership, Takia Council and her family will celebrate the last milestone in the construction of their new home. The Dedication celebration was at 2:00 P.M. on Sunday, August 24th at the home’s site at 191 St John’s Place, Warrenville, SC (Warren Ridge Subdivision).  Along with local Habitat for Humanity representatives and Thrivent Financial members, Clergy representing the five area Lutheran Congregations who partnered with Aiken County Habitat for Humanity on this project spoke during a short program, which includes a House Blessing, a ribbon cutting and the presentation of a Bible and the house keys to the Council Family.  The five area Lutheran Churches who partnered with Thrivent and Habitat are: Bethlehem (Aiken), Holy Trinity (North Augusta), Mount Calvary, (Johnston), St. James (Graniteville), and St. Paul (Aiken).

The construction of this particular home is the result of two organizations—Thrivent Financial for Lutherans® and Habitat for Humanity® International—joining forces in an unprecedented alliance to not only build walls, but to build community as well.  Thrivent Builds with Habitat for Humanity, an alliance between these two non-profits, was announced in September, 2005, in Minneapolis, Minn., home to Thrivent Financial’s corporate headquarters. 

While Thrivent Financial has long been a supporter of Habitat for Humanity, the alliance represents the largest single pledge in the history of either entity and has made possible construction of the Council home in this community.  The four-year, $125-million commitment by Thrivent Financial includes plans to construct hundreds of homes across the country each year, to engage hundreds of thousands of volunteers in Habitat for Humanity builds, to promote short-term Habitat home-building trips abroad and to provide large grants to measurably improve substandard housing in specific neighborhoods.  “This Habitat house is the first Thrivent Builds home in Aiken County and is one of five built this year in South Carolina.  We are very grateful to the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans organization, the Aiken-Edgefield Chapter and the five Lutheran Churches for providing the financial and volunteer support for this home,” said Richard C. Church, Executive Director for the Aiken County Habitat for Humanity.  “I know they are as excited as we are to see that this Habitat home has become a reality for the Council family”.

For more information on this unique alliance, visit www.Thriventbuilds.com

 

"WORSHIP BUILD"

Building Together in Faith

A happy Mother and three sons celebrate the dedication of their new home and new start!   

 

Officials from Aiken County Habitat for Humanity, representatives from four Aiken churches and prominent community leaders joined together to Dedicate ‘The Worship Build” on Sunday, August 24th at 4:00 PM at the site  at 321 Union Street in Aiken. The public was invited to attend the dedication ceremony and tour the new home.

Actual construction began in April and partnered four Aiken churches: First Baptist Church, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church, St. John’s United Methodist Church and St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic Church together with the new Habitat for Humanity homeowner partner family, Carolyn Matthews, a single mother and her three children, to build the home.  As with all Habitat for Humanity partner families, Ms. Matthews contributed 200 “sweat equity” hours working on the home during the course of construction along with other volunteers. 

“This Worship Build house, with these four Aiken churches partnering together, really emphasizes what Habitat for Humanity is all about: Habitat is a Christian organization which seeks to eliminate poverty and sub-standard housing throughout the world,” said Richard C. Church, Executive Director for the Aiken County Habitat for Humanity.  “In addition to supporting and building this home here in Aiken, each of these churches donated additional funds to build four Habitat homes overseas.  The focus of the Worship Build was to make the construction of this home a true act of Worship and to praise Jesus Christ, the true builder of lives, the source of our salvation and the foundation of Habitat for Humanity.”

 

 

 

 

 

For more information contact:

Richard C. Church, Executive Director at 642-9295 x.104

email: habitataiken@bellsouth.net

 

 

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The economy is now well into a recession and different economic sectors seem to be deteriorating particularly over the last several months.  Like so many businesses, social service agencies and public institutions, our Habitat affiliate is experiencing these same effects of financial loss.

One person told me that "we are sinking"! I told him that is not true...it is only that the water level in the lake is falling, but Habitat is definitely not sinking.  In fact, now is the time to hoist the sail and head for deeper water where the fish are.  We need to keep our eyes focused on the future and not let the disappointments and losses of the present econocic crisis affect our optimism.  With every challenging situation there exists an opportunity, we need only to search for it and act.

Habitat has a very direct role in the solution to some of the housing problems facing our county today.  We are still building houses and providing home ownership opportunities for the very low income and low income families that are in need.  This has not stopped.  In so doing we are contrubuting to the offsetting of the negative housing issues and problems that low income families are facing and this is without any BAIL OUT money!

While we are not sinking this does not mean we are flourishing either.  We are in need of the community's support and assistance to reach those in real need of simple, decent homes.  Together we can keep progressing forward and reaching out to others.  So, I call upon you to support Habitat in 2009 and together we can build a better tomorrow.

Let's hoist the sail!

Richard C. Church,

Executive Director