Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Quality, affordable housing continues to be a great need in our region. Having a place to call home that is safe, healthy and affordable is crucial for both physical and mental health, while also helping create room in the household budget for a much improved economic outlook. All of this allows for a family to not just survive, but to thrive.

Over the last few years, Piedmont Habitat for Humanity has been blessed in growing our capacity to build more homes, add a home repair program, and serve more counties. And now we are poised for another giant step forward in the ability to serve more local families. Piedmont Habitat has been awarded a grant in the amount of $946,149 through the Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC) Affordable Workforce Housing Program. This funding will help build 11 new homes over the next two years across the counties we serve. Last summer, Virginia Housing announced $40 million in funding was being made available to the 21 Planning District Commissions across Virginia for local housing initiatives. Locally, the Commonwealth Regional Council served to make this funding available through a competitive grant application.

We are thankful to the CRC for the great work they do for our region and for making this opportunity possible. And we offer a huge thank you to Virginia Housing for providing this funding through their REACH Virginia program, which reinvests their own resources to support local housing efforts across Virginia.

Along with this amazing grant opportunity, our local work only remains possible through the support of the community as we come together to love our neighbors through shelter. The generosity of local donors is just as important as ever to help complete the funding needed for these builds. And the opportunity for volunteers who give of their valuable time on the build site will continue to grow.

Above all we are thankful to God as the ultimate provider of the resources needed to carry out our mission — seeking to put God’s love into action, Habitat for Humanity brings people together to build homes, communities and hope.

We eagerly look forward to future home dedication ribbon cutting ceremonies and to the joy on families’ faces as they step through the door into their brighter future.

Piedmont Habitat for Humanity serves individuals and families who have a demonstrated need for an improved housing solution, the ability to pay an affordable mortgage or repair loan, and are willing to partner with Habitat through hundreds of hours of volunteer labor as able.

Jayne Johnson is Executive Director, Piedmont Habitat for Humanity. She can be reached at jayne@farmvillehabitat.org.