Local Builders Build Habitat Home in Thirteen Days

Fairview, TN—On Friday, August 2 at 2pm Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County (HFHWC) will dedicate its 136 home to Ms. Tiffany Otey and her four children. This is the first of five houses that Habitat Williamson will complete this fall by partnering with local churches, businesses, foundations and the public sector to provide hard-working, low-income Williamson and Maury County families with the opportunity to purchase their own homes.

The house was completed in just 13 days by local homebuilders and contractors during the annual Home Builders Blitz build. Habitat’s Home Builders Blitz is a partnership between Habitat affiliates and the building community to build and renovate homes across the United States, helping to fulfill Habitat’s vision of “a world where everyone has a decent place to live.” This type of build began in 2002 in Wake Forest, NC and since then has resulted in more than 1,000 safe, affordable homes across the country. Builders and Habitat affiliates work closely to organize all aspects of building, including securing subcontractors and suppliers, fundraising and seeking donations of materials. This year’s HFWHC build brought together 31 sponsors, including the Southwestern Company who provided a half-home sponsorship of $35,000. Local companies, including Wells Fargo, Southwestern, Dave Ramsey, First Community Mortgage and Reliant Bank, provided volunteer labor for the build.

Habitat is pleased to announce the companies came together to support the Home Builders Blitz this year:

• American Heating and Cooling (HVAC)
• Apcom (water heater)City Electric Supply (light fixtures)
• Custom Trim (labor-interior doors and trim)
• Deal & Sons Grading (fill dirt and top soil)
• Drees Homes (labor-vinyl soffits and metal fascia)
• Dow (insulation panels and energy saving components)
• Felix Enterprises (electrical material and labor)
• Flow Construction (drywall material and labor)
• GAF (roofing materials)
• Huskey Lumber (exterior doors and windows)
• Insulation Solutions of Tennessee, Inc. (gutters)
• John Maher Builders (framing labor)
• The Jones Company (architectural services)
• Lee Company (plumbing material and labor) – Lee Co employee and Habitat homeowner Ruskin Ogorodnik worked on house
• Metro Carpets (carpet & vinyl flooring material and labor)
• Mike Ford Custom Builders (finish grading, seed, straw and landscape package; several of their subcontractor base participants)
• Petersen and Sons, LLC (footing labor)
• Professional Roofers (roofing labor)
• Quality Builders (labor-vinyl soffits and metal fascia)
• Real Green Solutions (Energy Star inspections and certification)
• S&H Landscaping (rough grading), owned by Habitat homeowner, Juan Hernandez        
• The Southwestern Company ($35,000)
• Tennessee Glass (closet shelving)
• 31-W Insulation (insulation material and labor)
• Valley Interior Products (drywall material)
• Valspar (paint material)
• Warren Brothers Sash and Door (interior doors and trim material)
• The Whirlpool Corporation (refrigerator and range)
• Wilsonart (laminate kitchen counter tops)
• Yale Locks and Hardware (exterior and interior lock sets)

Roger Dunn, Sales Manager at American Heating & Cooling, explained why his company never thought twice of supporting the build with a donated HVAC system and installation. “American Heating and Cooling prides itself in being involved with community projects. There is not a better project to get involved with than Habitat for Humanity. It’s the “American way” to help others and be a blessing to these families, but that’s not why we do it. We do it because the blessing is ours. There is no better feeling than watching a Habitat dedication and someone earning the keys to their new home and knowing you were a big part of it. That’s why we participate. We truly get more out of it than the homeowner.”

The Home Builders Blitz’s future homeowner Tiffany Otey works full-time at Franklin Special School District as a teacher assistant and part-time at KinderCare Learning Center as a teacher. She loves working with children, and has four little ones of her own, Kentrez (10), MaKenya(8), MaKayla(5) and Kujuan(3). The family spends Friday nights having “family fun time,” playing games, making homemade pizzas and ice cream and watching movies picked out by the kids. Tiffany knows several other Habitat homeowners and realizes the advantages she will have with an affordable house payment. She tries to never miss a day or the build site and continuously thanks to her sponsors,  “I can’t say enough how much I appreciate this opportunity to make a better life for my family.”

For more information on the Home Builders Blitz, contact Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County at 690-8090 or e-mail Kim Randell at krandell@habitatwilliamson.org. 

Hammers and High Heels Raises $14,000

On Thursday, July 18, the Darrell Waltrip Honda Showroom got a makeover complete with pink hammers, stiletto heels, and over 200 visitors, all kicking up their high heels to support Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County (HFHWC). Visitors enjoyed great food, live music and over 150 specialty silent auction items, with every penny raised going straight to the “bricks and sticks” of Habitat’s Women Build home. Darrell Waltrip matched every dollar spent on silent auction items up to $5000; and in just two hours, supporters raised over $14,000 for the cause.

Sharon Puckett, long-time newsperson and public information administrator at Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, emceed the event and opened with background on the Women Build program and its pertinence to the citizens of Williamson County. “The Women Build educates and inspires women to build and advocate for simple, decent and affordable houses in their communities. On August 17, volunteers will begin constructing in Fairview the affiliate’s fourth Women Build home, alongside partner family Tracie Johnson and her four children. Before her home is completed, Tracie and her family will complete 420 hours of “sweat equity” by completing a homebuyer’s education program, working on building their own home. Habitat Williamson will then sell the home to Tracie at cost and will not charge interest on the mortgage for the life of her loan.” She then urged attendees to “bid generously and bid often.” 

“We doubled the amount raised from last year’s Women Build auction and wouldn’t have been able to so without the talents and donations of so many supporters,” explains HFHWC’s Director of Development Kim Randell.  “Community partners came together to ensure our success. Their donations kept our event costs to a minimum, ensuring that everything we raised could be used to build. We want to thank the Bunganut Pig Pub and Eatery, Chick-Fil-A, Constant Craving Caterers, Granite City, Moon Wine and Spirits, Shuff’s Music & Piano Showroom, Sweets Ndulgence, Papa Boudreaux’s Cajun Café, Sarah Bailey Photography, Sopapilla’s,Sweet Natured Treats, The Williamson Herald, Jessica Perry at Winstead Perry Public Relations, Darrell Waltrip and the many hours given by our WOW (Women of Williamson) Habitat volunteers. We can’t wait to build Tracie’s home with her; it will be life-changing both for our future homeowner and the volunteers involved.”

HFHWC is still looking for volunteers who would like to work on building this home, as well as donations to cover costs. Twenty-seven thousand dollars are still needed to fund the home, and anyone wanting to help can donate online at www.hfhwm.org.  Anyone wanting to volunteer can contact HFHWC Volunteer Coordinator Billy Whipple at 615-550-5614. 

For more information and photos from the event, please join us on Facebook!

Williamson Habitat to Dedicate Home Built by Local Teens

On Sunday, March 24, Habitat for Humanity of Williamson County (HFHWC) will dedicate its 133^rd home to Franklin native, Pamela Pointer. Built and sponsored by local high schools through the Habitat High Build program, this new, energy-efficient residence on 9^th Street in downtown Franklin sits just feet from the home in which Pamela was raised. “My family built our home in the 1940s. It has a lot of good memories, but I worry about its safety. Now I have a place where the whole family can come together. I feel truly blessed to be able to purchase a Habitat home.”

Over the last five weekends, Pamela has worked alongside students from Brentwood, Centennial, Currey Ingram, Independence, Franklin, Ravenwood, and Summit High Schools. This is the 15^th Habitat High home for HFHWC and is funded through money raised by the students in the Habitat for Humanity clubs at each school and through the generous donations of corporate sponsorship. Ed McAssey, Chief Operating Officer of the Lasko Products, Inc. calls his company’s commitment to the program a no-brainer. “We wanted to do something for those who work for us and for the next generation of our workforce. Habitat High provides important life experience for the high schoolers, while helping deserving individuals in our community achieve their goal of home ownership. We are excited to be part of sponsoring Habitat High for the next five years.”

That excitement was palpable every day on the build site. Habitat Crew Leader Bill Harris worked on the project each weekend and saw firsthand the energy the students and families brought to the project. “The volunteers were here early each day and ready to work – even the snow didn’t keep them away! We stayed ahead of schedule all during the process, and the students did an excellent job of paying attention to all the detail work that needed to be done. It was a great build.” When asked why she came out to help with the build, Kaitlyn Bean, a freshman at Currey Ingram Academy, explained, “I helped because it makes a big difference to help build a home, and with everyone’s help the house will get done quicker.” Matthew Roland, a freshman at Currey Ingram Academy, also added, “I enjoyed helping someone who needs a new home, it means a lot. Also, my parents have done this before, and I wanted to follow in their footsteps.” In addition to swinging hammers, a group of students and teachers from Currey Ingram Academy developed a video from their volunteer day that could be used to share the process with others looking to support Habitat.

Pamela has four children. Her daughter, Irish, and her son, Adrian, are grown and have families of their own. Her son, Blair, 24, works at Kroger and attends Columbia State part-time. Her youngest son, Stanley, is 22 and a senior at UT – Knoxville, earning a BA in Business Management. Stanley helped to organize a week of service for Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. The fraternity earned over 400 hours of service and donated 200 hours to Pamela’s goal of 420 “sweat equity” hours. He also made a special trip home from Knoxville and spent the third weekend of the build working alongside his mother.

When asked what this process has meant to her, Pamela beams with pride. “I have dreamed of this day for years and from the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank you enough. There are a lot of hard-working people out there and Habitat is their only chance at homeownership.”