Boone, NC- October 1st, 2020 – Wells Fargo Foundation has awarded Watauga Habitat for Humanity with a $15,000 grant to build an affordable home in the Meat Camp Community. The funding is part of an $8.1 million donation to Habitat for Humanity International for capacity building and direct mission support to build, renovate and repair more than 350 affordable homes across the United States. The grant is provided through Wells Fargo Builds℠ and is part of the Wells Fargo Foundation’s $1 billion philanthropic commitment to create more housing affordability solutions by 2025.
“We’ve had a rich history of working with Wells Fargo to strengthen our Watauga Habitat eco-friendly neighborhood,” said Allison Jennings, Watauga Habitat’s director of development. “Wells Fargo understands safe and affordable housing transforms families and communities for generations to come. Now, more than ever, people need a safe place to call home,” said Jennings.
Wells Fargo Builds provides philanthropic financial assistance from the Wells Fargo Foundation to support the construction, renovation, painting or repairing of homes with low-to-moderate income households. In 2019 alone, Wells Fargo employees volunteered more than 1.9 million hours of service to strengthen their communities, including building, repairing, and improving 674 homes across the U.S. with several organizations through Wells Fargo Builds.
The grant will support the construction
of a home for App State employee, Sheila Potter. This newly constructed home is the second App
Builds a Home project. Students and
staff from Appalachian State have committed to fundraising and building this
home. “App State students are thrilled
to have a jump-start on fundraising thanks to Wells Fargo Builds support,” said
Jennings. To learn more about App Builds
a Home visit appbuildsahome.appstate.edu.
Thirty-five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly took an important step in promoting the idea that everyone deserves a decent place to live by declaring that the first Monday in October would be World Habitat Day. On October 5th, 2020, Watauga Habitat for Humanity joins with our partners locally and around the world to rededicate ourselves to recognizing the basic right to adequate shelter. Watauga Habitat for Humanity asks that we all come together as one communicating that:
•
Every one of us deserves the opportunity for a better future.
• A decent place to live can remove barriers to opportunity, health and success that might have been part of a family’s life for years and in many cases for generations.
• It is unacceptable that even before the COVID-19 crisis, more than 18 million U.S. households were paying half or more of their income on housing. Now, as the significant economic impacts of COVID-19 continue to unfold, the number of families struggling to make ends meet is only growing.
Habitat for Humanity International is working to improve home affordability for 10 million people through a five-year U.S. advocacy campaign called Cost of Home. The campaign, which launched in June 2019, provides the opportunity to mobilize corporate and faith partners, volunteers and community members to meet the nation’s home affordability challenge. Donate your voice and invite your network to advocate for policies that increase the supply and preservation of affordable homes, equitably increase access to credit, optimize land use for affordable homes, and develop homes and ensure access to and the development of communities of opportunity.
Given that World Habitat Day falls one month before the 2020 elections, we encourage everyone to use this time to call on candidates and voters to prioritize home affordability this Nov. 3. To learn more visit, habitat.org/costofhome/act-now .
Summer Newsletter Hi friends! Thank you so much for your continued support of Watauga County Habitat for Humanity. It has been some tim...
