By ANA RISANO
Staff Writer
The local Habitat for Humanity had another successful year building homes and widening its community.
Last fiscal year, Habitat for Humanity of the NC Sandhills built 13 homes, provided nearly 50 critical home repairs for elderly and disabled community members, built two roads, and garnered $1.4 million from Restore sales.
“I’m really a big fan of the whole ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast and steady,’” Executive Director Amie Fraley said. “I feel like we have really hit a sweet spot of what our production level needs to be to serve our community the best and keep doing that.”
Habitat plans to continue at its pace, building another 13 homes this year and conducting another 50 repairs through its Aging in Place program. It also has big plans on the horizon with a 103-acre property in Aberdeen.
The homeownership application period closed in August, with 185 families submitting full applications. Fraley said the pre-qualification process drew interest from about 600 people. In October, 15 families will be chosen for a future Habitat home.
The two roads built last year have paved the way for about 17 future Habitat families. Named Page Cunningham Road and Frieda May Lane, each was named after a volunteer with over 5,000 volunteer hours.
Frieda May Lane, which includes Nancy Court, is in Addor, marking Habitat’s first home footprint in the community. The development, named Bright Meadows, will accommodate 12 families.
“This is very much in response to efforts from within the community,” Fraley said. “People who are longtime residents or grew up there — they want to see revitalization happen, and they knew it just wasn’t organically happening.”
Fraley added she hopes the development will be a “catalyst for change” in the community, with the area perking up as new homes pop up and the community comes together to help.
Habitat has done a handful of critical repairs in Addor too. That program involves five different kinds of repairs: roof, septic, HVAC, window replacement and wheelchair ramps. But Fraley noted they are only repairs they can do on mobile homes are ramps.
Carolyn Buchan, 95, received a home repair last year, having found out about the program through her church. In a letter from Aging in Place Manager Adam Cook, he shared how appreciative Buchan was for the ramp outside her home.
“The gratitude expressed by Mrs. Buchan and her family has been heartfelt and profound,” Cook said. “The Buchan family’s appreciation extends to the dedicated volunteers and all those involved in this project. Their collective efforts have not only restored Mrs. Buchan’s mobility but have also reinforced the power of community support and compassion.”
Looking ahead, Habitat is finalizing plans for its largest project, to address workforce housing issues in the area. Dubbed Sandhills Station, the property consists of 103 Aberdeen acres and gives the nonprofit space to build for decades to come. Located across U.S. 15-501 from Aberdeen’s Sportsplex, it’s positioned within Habitat’s footprint of Moore, Richmond and Hoke counties.
Fraley anticipates going in front of the Aberdeen Planning Board on Sept. 19 with Habitat’s development plans. The plan is to create a mixed-income community focused on workforce housing, with about 145 single-family homes and 130 multifamily units. Workforce housing refers to affordable housing for people who earn 60 to 120 percent of the median income.
That is different from Habitat’s affordability model at 30 and 80 percent of the county’s median income, so Habitat hopes to partner with other local employers who want to help people earning less than the median income.
Fraley said Habitat is looking at a handful of proposed concepts for the apartments, with some combination of affordable workforce housing and units without income limitations. She mentioned the concept of master leasing, where a local employer would guarantee so many units are occupied.
“They would basically guarantee a series of (units),” Fraley said. “So if they feel confident that they could fill 10 apartments every year, then they would guarantee the occupancy there. So if nobody rented it, they would still be on the hook for the rental. They wouldn’t own it, though.”
But since Habitat has to think years in advance about developing homes, Fraley said work on this property is likely several years out.
“Land development is always slower than you think it’s going to be,” Fraley said.
Contact Ana Risano at (910) 585-6396 or ana@thepilot.com.
