On Wednesday, Sept. 7, NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson and Susan Woodson will join project sponsors, students from the Habitat Campus Chapter at NC State University, and Habitat Wake partner families to kick off the construction of 11 new Habitat for Humanity of Wake County townhomes. The homes are a part of the historic Build-A-Block project, the largest collaboration between a Habitat campus chapter and a Habitat for Humanity affiliate. The homes are located on Kirk Avenue off Lake Wheeler Road near NC State University.
Build-A-Block leaders including Chancellor and Mrs. Woodson will ceremonially “raise” the first Build-A-Block walls on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 9 a.m. at 2402 Kirk Avenue, Raleigh. Five townhomes will be built this fall and the remaining six will be constructed next spring.
“Our students are giving back to the greater Raleigh community, and we are pleased that NC State and its partners can lead the way in providing affordable housing in Wake County,” said Chancellor Randy Woodson. Chancellor and Mrs. Woodson are serving as honorary co-chairs of Build-A-Block. which has a fundraising goal of $715,000 by the end of the 2016-17 school year. To date, more than $250,000 has been raised to cover construction costs.
Sarah Paluskeiwicz, former president of the campus chapter and Mike Giancola, NC State Assistant Vice Provost are serving as co-chairs for Build-A-Block. The Red Ribbon Committee, including Chair Smedes York, Debbie Yow, Chris Corchiani, Terrence Holt, Torry Holt and other community leaders, are assisting with the fundraising.
Build-A-Block expands upon Habitat Wake’s long-standing relationship with the student chapter. NC State boasts one of the strongest Habitat chapters in the country. Since 1996, the chapter has raised more than $300,000 through annual events including Shack-A-Thon and has helped build 22 homes in partnership with Habitat Wake.
“To date, our campus and greater community raised $250,000 to support this partnership,” commented NC Paluskiewicz.“Now, in the coming year we also will ‘do’ by building 11 homes together.”
Nearly 10,000 volunteers will be needed over the course of the year to build the 11 townhomes.
“We are grateful to NC State for their commitment to providing a housing solution for families in need. More than 28,000 of our neighbors in Wake County have an affordable housing need.” said Kevin Campbell, president and CEO of Habitat Wake. “We still need more sponsors and volunteers to complete this project.”