East Cooper Habitat for Humanity, Lowe’s and 50 women build with families in Huger during National Women Build Week

This past week, East Cooper Habitat for Humanity and Lowe’s hosted the annual National Women Build Week from May 5-13 where, women volunteers and Habitat homeowners will unite nationwide to build up their communities and gain skills in home construction.

National Women Build Week encourages women nationwide to devote at least one day to help build decent and affordable housing in our local communities. Women have the strength and determination necessary to build Habitat houses, addressing the problem of affordable housing in a concrete way so that families can achieve stability and independence through safe, decent and affordable homes.

“Since 1990, East Cooper Habitat for Humanity has been uniting strong women volunteers of all experience levels in the East Cooper area to build or repair homes alongside our hardworking, empowered Habitat homeowners,” said Robert Hervey, Executive Director. “We would like to thank the North Mount Pleasant Lowe’s for their continued support of our mission.”

In fact, according to a 2018 national study by Lowe’s and Habitat for Humanity, more than nine-in-10 American women believe providing and advocating for access to affordable housing for women can benefit society.[1] The survey also found:

• Nearly all women (98 percent) agree access to affordable housing helps women heads of household thrive.
• Having a safe, stable home is a source of pride (96 percent) that makes women feel more confident (98 percent) and independent (97 percent).
• Three-in-five (62 percent) women say they cannot afford to purchase a home that meets their family’s needs in the neighborhood where they want to live.

“Lowe’s is proud to sponsor National Women Build Week to educate, inspire and empower women to volunteer alongside other women in their community to address the critical issue of affordable housing. We know women working together are an unstoppable force for creating meaningful change in our communities,” said Colleen B. Penhall, Lowe’s vice president of corporate social responsibility. “At Lowe’s, we believe that a safe, stable home is an important source of strength, pride and security for families. Together with Habitat, our Lowe’s Heroes volunteers and women nationwide, National Women Build Week provides valuable support to advance accessible housing in the communities where we all live and work.”

Lowe’s and East Cooper Habitat for Humanity share the vision that every woman, man and child have a decent place to lay their heads at night. Far too often, low-income families are faced with choosing between paying their housing costs and buying basic necessities like food and medical care to provide for their family. National Women Build Week recruits, educates and inspires women to build, and advocate for decent and affordable houses in their communities alongside their future neighbors—making a difference in their community, one nail at a time.

Lowe’s helped launch National Women Build Week in 2008 and has brought together more than 117,000 all-women construction volunteers to build or repair homes with nearly 5,000 families over the past 10 years. This year, Lowe’s donated $2 million to Habitat for Humanity to support the 2018 National Women Build Week, and provides how-to clinics at stores to help equip women volunteers for the builds. Since 2003, Lowe’s has committed over $30 million to Habitat for Humanity International and helped more than 6,500 Habitat families improve their living conditions.

Both women and men of all experience levels can participate by signing up to volunteer by emailing [email protected] or by joining the conversation online. As part of National Women Build Week, Lowe’s and Habitat are activating a social movement to generate conversation about building one another up and sharing the message of women empowerment, positivity and action by using #BuildHer and #WomenBuild.

 

About East Cooper Habitat for Humanity

Since 1990, East Cooper Habitat for Humanity has constructed 74 homes East of the Cooper River. Homeowners are selected through an application process based upon – (1) Need for housing, (2) Ability to pay, and (3) Willingness to partner. They serve the communities East of the Cooper: including Mt. Pleasant, Daniel Island, Cainhoy, Huger, McClellanville, Awendaw, Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. A Habitat home typically costs about $100,000 or more for materials and land. Most labor is donated by volunteers. Currently, certain grants and in-kind donations allow them to sell the house with a first mortgage of about $95,000 along with a forgivable second mortgage in an amount which brings the selling price to fair market value. The first mortgage is a no-profit, no-interest or low-interest mortgage which must be repaid to ECHFH over a period of 30 years. The payments received on the mortgages are used to fund ongoing operational costs to build additional homes.

ECHFH has an open-door volunteer policy. All who desire to be a part of the mission are welcome. Their single largest source of funding is from the East Cooper ReStore located on Long Point Road in Mt. Pleasant. The ReStore, while a separate legal entity, was created to provide funding to East Cooper Habitat for Humanity and other local causes. Other funding comes from area churches, businesses and community organizations in addition to support from individual donors.

ECHFH also tithes to an international affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International upon completion of each home. Recently, tithes have been designated for home building in the city of La Ceiba, Honduras. In total, ECHFH has tithed an amount supporting the construction of over 66 homes overseas – in addition to the 73 homes constructed in the local area.

 

About Habitat for Humanity International

Driven by the vision that everyone needs a decent place to live, Habitat for Humanity began in 1976 as a grassroots effort on a community farm in southern Georgia. The Christian housing organization has since grown to become a leading global nonprofit working in nearly 1,400 communities throughout the U.S. and in more than 70 countries. Families and individuals in need of a hand up partner with Habitat for Humanity to build or improve a place they can call home. Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Through financial support, volunteering or adding a voice to support affordable housing, everyone can help families achieve the strength, stability and self-reliance they need to build better lives for themselves. Through shelter, we empower. To learn more, visit habitat.org.

 

About Lowe’s in the Community

Lowe’s, a FORTUNE^® 50 home improvement company, has a 60-year legacy of supporting the communities it serves through programs that focus on K-12 public education and community improvement projects. In the past decade, Lowe’s and the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation together have contributed nearly $300 million to these efforts, and for more than two decades Lowe’s Heroes volunteers have donated their time to make our communities better places to live. For the latest news, visit Newsroom.Lowes.com or follow @LowesMedia on Twitter.

 

 

[1] The 2018 Lowe’s and Habitat for Humanity National Women Build Week Survey presents the findings of an online survey conducted by Toluna from April 5-8, 2018 among a random sample of 1,019 American women age 18+. The margin of error for a sample of this size is ± 3% at a 95% level of confidence.