Charlene Lyle is the epitome of dedication - one of Habitat Spartanburg's most dedicated volunteers who has worked 3,408 hours building Habitat homes. In total, Charlene has worked on 45 Habitat Spartanburg homes! Charlene is a member of an elite group - our regular volunteers who faithfully give one, usually two, days weekly to building homes for deserving families. "After retirement I was looking for something to do and Habitat seemed like a good fit," Charlene said. "I look back now and think of all that I've learned, all of the people -- now friends who I met and I'm so thankful for the experience."
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Becoming a first-time homeowner is both exciting and challenging, and one of the biggest challenges that Habitat homeowners can face is handling home maintenance for the first time in their lives.
For that reason, we make every effort to equip program participants with all the knowledge and skills that they need to be successful in this area. Participants spend the majority of their time in the program on our construction sites, where they learn about all the working parts in a home, gain experience with a variety of tools, and build relationships with amazing volunteers who are willing to be there for them as supportive resources going forward.
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Joe Mattison -- the leader of the Monday Volunteer Group -- is humble about the work and time the group devotes to the Habitat Spartanburg ReStore.
"We work hard -- we do whatever needs to be done, but we enjoy each other's company, too," Joe said. "We all see it as a way to give back to the ministry -- and to Spartanburg -- and we have these bonds now with one another."
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Phil Abers, a longtime Habitat Spartanburg volunteer, is also a member of the Spartanburg Men's Garden Club and Trees Coalition. Mr. Abers shared his expertise with Habitat homeowners and others during a recent workshop.
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Chiquette Johnson vividly remembers the fear that gripped her four years ago when her son was born with a lifelong, debilitating disease. Chiquette’s son was born with a congenital genetic disorder and is wheelchair bound. “I remember the first time I held him, I had this feeling of joy and pride, of course, but I also worried that I wouldn’t be able to care for him where we lived,” said Chiquette, describing her small, duplex that wasn’t handicap accessible.
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“I’m amazed and thankful that something I love doing so much is helping someone else catch a break.”
These words pierced my ears as Charlene Lyle, a faifthful volunteer and Board Members, said them at a recent meeting. As I listened to these words, my heart skipped a beat.
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Tenisha Parks remembers the moment she let go of fear and turned her family’s future over to God. “If you want something different, you have to do something different,” Rev. Walter Belton told his congregation late last year. As she sat in the pew, the single mother of two boys, ages 11 and 14, clung to those words.
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I read with great interest a column by Diana Olick, Real Estate Editor for CNBC the other day.
Her thesis is that due to home builders favoring larger and higher priced homes, overall home ownership is becoming available only to wealthier citizens. She reports that sales of homes priced under $100,000 fell 13% in January 2018 versus January 2017, and home sales between $100,000 and $250,000 fell another 2%. Apparently, there are plenty of homes on the market over $250,000 but not nearly enough available in the affordable price range for most buyers.
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