Habitat Women Build for Monroe County

Two women from our crew, Sarah Menefee and Kait Garner, took part in the Habitat for Humanity Women Build this past week. It was two days filled with laughter, lots of learning, and an opportunity to help a great cause. They both ended up smashing through their goals and helped two families come closer to their dream of owning a brand new home.

The Woman Build is an annual all women event with the goal of building 2 houses in 2 weeks. Each of the 40 women participating in the build had an individual goal of raising $250. Kait ended up raising $525, and Sarah put on a fundraiser at The Switchyard Brewery and raised $554. The team of 40 women ended up raising a combined total of $18,953, with a goal of $8750.  The whole Women Build team had a goal of $180,000 and surpassed that goal on the first day alone, at $186,000. It was a huge success!

If you aren’t familiar, the money that is raised completely pays for the home. The families get these homes after putting 250 hours of sweat equity into the home, in the form of financial classes, repair classes, homeowner classes, and helping at their job site and other build sites. The homeowners then pay Habitat for the home, interest-free. The money goes back into the organization in order to fund more projects. It’s a wonderful mission and program.

In the end, Kait and Sarah got the chance to meet and work along-side one of the new homeowners who will be living and raising their granddaughter in the home. They said their dedication and enthusiasm was infectious. It was a great experience and they both look forward to helping out this organization in the future!

Photo credit: Abra Clampitt with Gift of Today Photography