BY STACY LEBAK || Special to The Seven Lakes Insider
Habitat for Humanity hosted its annual CEO Build day on Friday, Oct. 28 at a new home construction project on West New Hampshire Avenue in West Southern Pines.
The home underway is for Shanesha Ingram and her family, and she will purchase the home with a guaranteed affordable mortgage after completing 300 hours of sweat equity and attending classes to help equip her to be a successful homeowner.
“We love CEO Day because we know how critical workforce housing is in our community, and we believe our model provides the best opportunity for hardworking individuals to live affordably in the place they work,” said Habitat Executive Director, Amie Fraley.
Each year, Habitat identifies 10-12 local CEOs and community leaders to raise the walls on a new home. These leaders are with companies and organizations that partner with Habitat through financial support or volunteerism.
This year, Habitat welcomed some rookies to the build site as well as builders who have joined in the past. Mickey Foster, CEO of FirstHealth of the Carolinas, was on hand with a special shout out to the staff teams at the hospital who join for a build day every month.
“Wendy Krueger at FirstHealth helps to coordinate a different team each month, so we always know that the third Saturday of the month we will have a different department from FirstHealth on hand, which is an amazing contribution to the mission,” Fraley said.
Also on hand were the mayor of Southern Pines, Carol Haney, as well as Town Manager Reagan Parsons and planner Rachel Mann. In addition to the many business leaders, local neighbors were even at the site to build or just cheer on the builders.
“We coordinated with neighborhood advocate Dorothy Brower to engage the local community on the day,” Fraley said. “We work hard to stay in communication with the residents within communities we work to ensure we are serving as a good partner and providing the support they would like to see for their neighborhood.”
In addition to local CEO’s, the future homebuyer even recruited her own employer to join in the building. Karen Neumayer, a local supervisor with Accurate Background, where Shanesha works and Dan Shoemaker, director of revenue — he drove up from Charleston just for the build day — were thrilled to partner with their colleague.
“Shanesha is a great employee – smart, very hardworking, we are honored to be able to support her with this build,” Shoemaker said.
Habitat builds throughout the year from 8 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It holds monthly “new to Habitat” sessions from 10-11 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the Habitat office, 2268 NC 5.
To learn more, contact Fraley at (910) 295-1934 or at afraley@sandhillshabitat.org or visit sandhillshabitat.org.
