The history of Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity
Since its founding in 1976, Habitat for Humanity International has built and rehabilitated more than 300,000 houses with families in need, becoming a world leader in addressing the issues of poverty and affordable housing.
It was a small, little-known movement until 1984, when President Jimmy Carter first got involved. His interest and actions raised public awareness of the program and the tremendous need for decent, truly affordable homes for the working poor. Churches, community groups and others joined together to successfully tackle a significant social problem—affordable, safe and decent housing for all.
By 1985, leaders in Nashville wanted to be a part of this extraordinary ministry.
The beginnings were humble. With a handful of volunteers and no staff, there was a lot of trial and error. The builds were slow, often taking up to a year to complete one house, but the positive effects were clear and the passion of the volunteers was unwavering.
- 1985: 1 house built
- 1990: 2 houses built
By the early 1990s, first steps were taken for the group to become an organized, fully functioning “affiliate” of Habitat for Humanity International. The organization began to make progress. Word began to spread. More and more people got involved, and many returned to volunteer again.
Nashville’s Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) partnered with the agency to identify infill lots for building one home at a time for families. From humble beginnings, the agency has grown exponentially—in number of staff members, families served, homes sponsored and active volunteers.
The agency moved from an all-volunteer group to a staffed agency in 1985, and Nashville Area Habitat is now in the top 1 percent of affiliates worldwide.
Nashville Area Habitat has served nearly 1,700 family members, including more than 1,080 children, each of whom will pass knowledge, personal growth and investments on to their children and grandchildren.
The process of building Nashville Habitat homes has also changed dramatically since the beginning. In the search for the most efficient timetable, the agency tried building homes over longer and shorter periods.
Eventually, Nashville Area Habitat chose an eight-day construction schedule. Starting spring 2011, homes will be built in seven days. Nashville Area Habitat’s pace is actually considered “blitz building” by Habitat International classification. But this pace works the best for Nashville Area Habitat’s sponsors, volunteers, families, staff and volunteer Supervisors on Site (S.O.S.).
It took 15 years to build the first 100 homes, four years for the second 100, 2.5 years for the third 100 and just under two years for the fourth 100 homes. Volunteers will build Nashville Area Habitat’s 500th home in 2011.
Locally, we built:
- 2005: 30 new houses
- 2006: 38 new houses
- 2007: 40 new houses
- 2008: 42 new houses
- 2009: 29 new houses
- 2010: 52 new houses
Nashville Area Habitat’s vision for affordable housing has evolved as well. Since 2003, the agency has built communities by acquiring land large enough to build neighborhoods rather than sprinkling construction in infill lots all over town. By building whole communities of Nashville Habitat families, the agency reduces the cost of building, develops sustainable communities, and maximizes the positive effects of its program.
In fall 2007, Nashville Area Habitat completed Providence Park, its 136-home, all-Habitat neighborhood located in southeast Nashville.
Learn more about Providence Park
Also in 2007, Nashville Area Habitat purchased and began developing their second Habitat community—Timberwood—in northwest Davidson County. Construction began in 2008, and the 112-home community was complete September 19, 2010, with a final 26-house build made possible by a matching challenge grant from an anonymous donor.
In 2008, Nashville Area Habitat purchased more than 220 acres of land in north Nashville on which to build the agency’s next community, Park Preserve. Construction on the first six homes concluded October 17, 2010. By 2020, Park Preserve will be home to 350+ families.
Learn more about Park Preserve
Volunteers are the lifeblood of Nashville Area Habitat. Our agency has worked with more than 107,000 volunteers to help us serve those in need of truly affordable homes in Nashville. Many of those volunteers work tirelessly on our board of directors and numerous committees to help the agency remain good stewards of its ministry and keep it growing for many years to come.
Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity—Dickson Division
Dickson Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1994 by the Dickson County Ministerial Fellowship and built its first home in 1996. In July 2007, Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity merged with the Dickson Habitat affiliate. Together, they serve more hardworking families more efficiently. The first home build of combined affiliates was in November 2007; two more were built 2008, two in 2009 and two in 2010.
HomeWORKS—tools for homeownership, education for life.
Through Habitat HomeWORKS courses, Nashville Area Habitat families learn how to be responsible homeowners. Armed with new knowledge and a new direction, these homeowners break the generational cycle of poverty by passing these gifts on to their children and their children’s children.
The Habitat HomeStores
Since January 2004, Nashville Area Habitat has opened two Habitat HomeStore locations to develop additional sources of funding to build more homes. Another location, ReStore in Dickson, Tenn., will open in spring 2011. These retail stores sell new and used home-related items and building materials at generous discounts to the public. The stores funded 15 Nashville Area Habitat homes in the first seven years of operation.
Learn more about the Habitat HomeStores
DeConstruct
Habitat’s DeConstruct program, started in 2007, is a major contributor to HomeStore revenue, by removing re-sellable items from homes being remodeled, redecorated or demolished for new construction.
Learn more about the DeConstruct program
ReConstruct
Nashville Area Habitat’s core homeownership program is for first-time homebuyers, but hundreds of existing homeowners in Nashville need assistance with major maintenance projects and critical home repairs, including improvements in energy efficiency and reduced carbon footprint. To serve the needs of these homeowners, the agency launched ReConstruct, a program which offers no-interest loans to qualifying homeowners to cover projects at cost.
Nashville Area Habitat–building lives, one home, one family at a time.