Habitat of Durham builds five homes, a playground and more through a week-long celebration

The Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange, & Chatham counties (HBADOC) and Habitat for Humanity built 10 homes in Durham, Orange and Chatham counties in 5 days during the week of May 31-June 5 as part of a national Habitat for Humanity Home Builders Blitz. Nationwide more than 250 homes were built during this week.

The Home Builders Blitz 2008 is the largest Habitat project of its kind and gave many low-income families the opportunity to own their own home in communities across the nation. All homes were completed from start to finish in one week.

In Durham County, five local builders, Anderson Homes, Atreus Homes & Communities, Cimarron Homes, K. Hovnanian Homes and Standard Pacific Homes, joined Habitat for Humanity of Durham to build 5 homes in just 5 days as part of this 2008 Blitz. They built these homes at zero cost to Habitat by seeking donations for materials and labor. Lead sponsors of this tremendous effort were the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties, Builders First Source and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Homes construction began at 7:00 a.m. on May 31 in Habitat's Hope Crossing neighborhood in East Durham. A 31-home Habitat community, Hope Crossing is North Carolina's first affordable green community.  With a focus on both green construction and green community planning, Hope Crossing has a focus on quality of life.  Key features include bronze-level green certification, solar panels for water heating, a community garden, walking path, playground and more.

On Monday, June 2, Didiayer Snyder of ABC-TV’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition visited the Blitz Build site in Durham to celebrate the 200th habitat home.

On Friday, June 6, 350 employees of RTP-based Burt's Bees joined Habitat for Humanity and the nonprofit KaBOOM! to build a playground and a community garden for the Hope Crossing neighborhood in just one day.

On Saturday, June 7, the homes, including the milestone 200th Habitat home in Durham, were presented to the five young families in a moving home dedication ceremony, and the new community garden and playground were celebrated. “We build houses everyday and for that we receive a check,” says Frank Wiesner, Chair of the Home Builders’ Blitz for the HBADOC. “This time, we are building homes in order to see the smiles on people’s faces, and the satisfaction of knowing we are changing lives and securing futures for these children.”