October 11, 2024
CHARLOTTE and GASTONIA, NC: The Boards of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region and Habitat Gaston County announced today the two affiliates will be combining their operations to serve more families with affordable housing solutions. The affiliate will operate under the Habitat Charlotte Region name and will serve low-to-moderate-income homebuyers and homeowners in a three-county area, encompassing Gaston, Iredell and Mecklenburg residents.
“The cost of housing in the greater Charlotte area continues to outpace many working families’ ability to purchase homes,” explained Habitat Charlotte Region CEO Laura Belcher. “By consolidating our organizations and combining efforts, we expect to serve more of those families together, more quickly than our two affiliates could serve if we continued to operate independently.”
Habitat Gaston County has provided affordable housing to residents for 36 years, and expects to complete a new, mixed-income neighborhood, Dixon Village, this year. The combined affiliate plans to add programs to serve local residents, including critical home repairs to help preserve existing affordable housing and addition of new financial education programing.
“More than a third of the Gaston County population is cost burdened, spending more than 30 percent of their monthly income on housing. We have several families who have already been approved for new home ownership and many more who have requested critical repairs to homes they own,” said Habitat Gaston County Board Chairman Patrick Mumford. “Combining our talent and resources will enable us to provide services to those families in an accelerated time frame.”
Since 1983, the two affiliates have served more than 4,800 families, combined. The new organization will serve families from Charlotte to Gastonia and Pineville to Statesville, and will have:
• Assets of nearly $69 million
• Revenues of more than $52 million
• Nearly 1,100 mortgages
• More than 4,500 volunteers contributing nearly 80,000 hours of service annually
• More than 230 employees
The affiliates expect to finalize the consolidation on October 1. Habitat Charlotte Region will continue to be headquartered in Charlotte, with offices in Gastonia and Davidson, and it plans to operate seven (7) ReStores in Charlotte, Cornelius, Gastonia, Mooresville, Pineville, and Statesville.
About Habitat Charlotte Region:
Seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat Charlotte Region brings people together from Pineville to Statesville to build strength, stability, and self-reliance through affordable homeownership. Since 1983, Habitat Charlotte Region has served nearly 4,600 families in the City of Charlotte, Pineville, the Lake Norman area, and Iredell County with affordable housing. Last year, Habitat Charlotte Region hosted the 37th Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project, which brought more than 2,000 volunteers to Charlotte to construct 27 homes in The Meadows at Plato Price neighborhood in West Charlotte. Visit https://www.habitatcltregion.org or call 704-376-2054 to learn more.
About Habitat for Humanity of Gaston County:
Founded in 1988, Habitat for Humanity of Gaston County provides affordable homeownership opportunities for low-to-moderate-income families and individuals in Gaston County. Starting with its first home in 1989, Habitat Gaston has built more than 125 homes, providing over 400 children and adults with safe, secure, and healthy homes. This summer, the affiliate expects to complete its largest project to date, Dixon Village, a mixed-income community which will create 12 affordable homes for families in the Habitat program. Habitat Gaston County and its 16 employees operate a ReStore in Gastonia, which helps fund its affordable housing mission. For more information, visit https://habitatgaston.org/ or call 704-864-6536.
