© 2009 Fluvanna County Habitat for Humanity
Dedication and Groundbreaking Held for Habitat Homes
Fluvanna County Habitat for Humanity recently held a
Dedication for their recently completed house in their new subdivision, High Mountain Acres, and an hour later held the Groundbreaking
ceremony of the next Habitat Home.
At the dedication, Habitat President Mike Himes welcomed all those in attendance including
the new homeowners and their friends and family as well as the many volunteers who worked on this house. Several of those volunteers
had put in over 100 hours on this home and were recognized for their efforts by Mr. Himes. They are Mike Collins, George Cottman,
Ron Fertile, Wayne Schmidt, Jerry Wormuth, and Mike Himes.
Deacon Pete Jenson and Pastor Greg Smith from
After the ceremony and refreshments the group was invited next door to the site of
the next Habitat home for a groundbreaking ceremony.
Once again President Himes welcomed all those attending. After an opening
prayer by Rev. Price Davis, a beautiful music offering and remarks by Construction Foreman George Cottman, Kimbley Bruce the next
homeowner was introduced by Family Advocate Nance Till.
Ms. Bruce is a single mom who has successfully raised two foster children who are now in college and she is currently raising another foster child. In addition to raising a three year old, she works fulltime and is pursuing a college degree on-line. “Her enthusiasm for life is contagious” said those who interviewed her through the application process and we are sure she will be a great Habitat homeowner”.
Habitat Seeks Other Sources for Funding
As
with most non-profit organizations, Fluvanna Habitat for Humanity has found that over the past few years donations from Fluvanna residents
are down. As former President Gladys Albright said, “It is understandable in this economy that donations have decreased, however
the need has not. It was Habitat’s hope to build two houses this past year and although two families were chosen, only one house
was able to be built. Our second family is still anxiously waiting for their new Habitat home to be constructed”.
According
to President Mike Himes, “our goal is still to be able to build two homes per year. Therefore it has become necessary to look
to other sources for funds.”
For the past year, Habitat’s Advisory Board has been researching available grants for which they
can apply in order to help make up the difference in decreased donations. Recently, their hard work has been rewarded and three
grants have been received by the local non-profit.
In October, the CACF granted Fluvanna Habitat $11,320 to help install the
road into
The latest grant received is $10,000 from the Bama Works
Fund of Dave Matthews Band, to be used for assistance in building one of five Earthcraft certified homes in High Mountain Acres, Habitat’s
subdivision.
“We are thrilled that all of these organizations have recognized the good work we do and the need for these funds
to help our neighbors in