Habitat for Humanity’s Women Build program promotes the involvement of women in the construction of Habitat houses. Women Build works with affiliates to nurture, recruit and train women to build and maintain simple, decent, healthy and affordable homes. This year’s Blount County Women Build recipient is Family Promise of Blount County graduate Merrily Dixon and her 2 daughters.
We first learned of the 2015 Women Build while speaking to Phyllis Crisp about a Haven House event that Vanquish Worldwide was sponsoring. It was very clear that Habitat for Humanity is an organization that is dear to many of the women at Vanquish and our sister company Peak Technical Institute (PTI) because within 45 minutes of sending out a notification for interest in the build, 16 ladies were on the list! Within an hour that list was up to 19!
We began our support when several ladies attended the book signing with HGTV Co-Founder Susan Packard at Vienna Coffee House on February 22nd. At this event, 20% of the net proceeds from all book sales benefited the build. We followed that event with the raising of the walls on March 6th which a small group from Vanquish attended. The build itself began on March 7th, and on March 28th the women of Vanquish and PTI came together for our scheduled day to build. This was an excellent opportunity to help Merrily and her family as well as build camaraderie among our coworkers and strengthening relationships with colleagues and peers.
Ten of us were able to attend the 2015 Women Build Luncheon on April 2nd to celebrate all volunteers, the recipients, and to celebrate our inner superhero!
Blount County Habitat for Humanity is part of a global, nonprofit housing organization operated on Christian principles that seeks to put God’s love into action by building homes, communities and hope. It takes approximately 320 volunteer builders, about 1600 volunteer hours and $100,000 for land and materials for each home.
Blount County Habitat for Humanity is dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes. They advocate for fair and just housing policies and provide training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions.