Nashville Area Habitat celebrates surpassing its Crossing the Threshold capital campaign goal

Friends, donors, board members and volunteers celebrated exceeding Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity’s goal for its Crossing the Threshold capital campaign to fund land purchase and development; expansion of the HomeWORKS education program; and a land bank that will serve hard-working families and individuals through 2010. Pictured are (L to R) capital campaign director Melissa Blackburn; Bill Blevins; John McCarthy; Ann Bumstead; construction director Chip Wilson; Melissa Dallas of Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati; Paul Johnson of the Housing Fund; Bill Dirl of Housing and Urban Development; Patricia Smith of Tennessee Housing Development Agency (THDA); artist Phil Ponder; advisory board chair John Gillespie; steering committee member Pam Pfeffer; development vice president Lauren Lane; foundation relations director Leah Smith; president and CEO Chris McCarthy; board chair Matthew Wilson; Lindsay Pully of THDA; steering committee member Ann Harmer.

Nashville Area Habitat for Humanity friends, donors, board members and volunteers gathered on June 18 to celebrate the success of the Crossing the Threshold capital campaign.

Over the past two and a half years, a dedicated steering committee led the Crossing the Threshold campaign, which was the agency’s first capital campaign since its founding in 1985.

Campaign funds were used to:

• Underwrite the purchase and development of land for Nashville Area Habitat communities Providence Park, Timberwood and Park Preserve
• Increase the size and scope of educational classes offered through HomeWORKS
• Establish an agency land bank that will serve families through 2020

Land, its development, and successfully prepared homeowners are critical to the success of the Habitat mission. The Crossing the Threshold funds enable the agency to continue to grow in service to hardworking low-income families in need of a hand-up through homeownership.

Nashville Area Habitat aims to break the cycle of poverty by giving people access to wealth through homeownership. Required HomeWORKS classes build a foundation for long-term success by teaching life skills, financial management, and home maintenance. The purchase of a Habitat home is just the beginning of a new life that is no longer restricted by living in high-cost, substandard housing.

“We can say this with confidence because we have seen it happen time after time, family after family,” said Nashville Area Habitat president and CEO Chris McCarthy. “The generous donations that purchase and develop land and fund our education programs provide a solid place and prepared people. Without this funding, we would not be able to offer the opportunity for families to break their own cycle of poverty.”

Nashville Area Habitat homes are not free. The typical Habitat partner family signs a mortgage at zero percent interest, with monthly payments averaging $450–$550, including taxes and insurance. To qualify for the homeownership program, applicants must have a housing need, reasonably good credit, the ability to pay a mortgage and $2,500 for closing costs, and earn up to 470 hours of “sweat equity” in HomeWORKS classes and on the build site.