I'd like to introduce our second guest blogger: one of our wonderful volunteers.  Janelle is a first year full-time MBA Candidate at NC State University's Jenkins Graduate School. She has a BBA in Marketing from James Madison University. Most recently before starting business school at NC State, Janelle was marketing manager at Wilkinson Supply Company. She's a lover of running and Pinterest. When not in class, you could probably find her exploring the restaurant scene in downtown Raleigh.

“It is not enough to limit your love to your own nation, to your own group. You must respond with love even to those outside of it. This concept enables people to live together not as nations, but as the human race.” -- Clarence Jordan

This past Saturday, I made it a point to stop by the Jubilee community in Wake Forest to see the great work that was happening there with our A Brush With Kindness (ABWK) exterior home repair program.

Yesterday, we hosted Frank Reed, Habitat for Humanity International’s, National Director of ReStore Support.  Frank came to congratulate our ReStore staff and volunteers on the results from our most recent fiscal year, where sales grew by 18% and the contribution to our mission reached nearly $900,000!  He also left us with many great ideas on how to continue to grow this part of our work and serve even more families in the future.

At Habitat, we are interested in breaking the cycle of poverty, not just providing a home.  Check out this research showing a great variety of opportunity around the country.  Unfortunately, our area shows very low income mobility opportunities due to a variety of factors.

Back in the day, Habitat for Humanity staged numerous long walks to bring attention to this new ministry. There was a 700 mile walk from Habitat’s headquarters in Americus, Georgia to Indianapolis to celebrate Habitat’s 7th Anniversary. There was a walk from Portland, Maine to Atlanta celebrating the 12th Anniversary in 1988. I joined this particular walk for a day in 1988 in Richmond, Virginia as we were launching our new Habitat affiliate in Lynchburg.

Last Wednesday, we had the privilege of dedicating our most recent new home in Augusta Crossings that was built in partnership with the Ali/Karim family and our sponsors from Red Hat, WalMart, and Grifols.

Tomorrow, Norma Smith is retiring after serving 16 years with Habitat Wake.  Norma is Habitat Wake’s longest tenured staff member in our history.   Thousands of volunteers from near and far have interacted with Norma over the years and have been greeted by her as they came out to volunteer.  I always tell our staff that we are here to set the stage and enable the work of volunteers.   Norma’s work embodied that.  Everyone is welcome and everyone has something to give.

I hate it when I have to miss a house dedication.  They are such beautiful celebrations of an act that provides a life changing opportunity.  Last Saturday, I had a family graduation celebration in Virginia and I was unable to attend the dedication of our most recently completed home in Augusta Crossings.  I reached out by e-mail to our homebuyer partner, Ty, to tell her I was sorry to miss her big day.