Sentara Community Impact: Central Valley Habitat for Humanity

HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - From repairing homes to building brand-new units, the Central Valley for Habitat for Humanity has been providing opportunities for affordable housing since 1988.

“We just had a groundbreaking for one of the homes that we are getting ready to build. To see the hope in the families, to see the people we work with, some of them having been in housing-restricted situations before. The emotion that they feel but then you play that forward and we have built the house,” David Wenger explained.

Wenger is the executive director of the Central Valley Habitat for Humanity.

With the help of a $67,000 grant from Sentara Cares. The organization will be creating new homes to be a part of a mixed-income community. Two families will be placed in home ownership. Wenger says this will also free up space for more families to have access to affordable housing.

Wenger says the mortgages paid by the families will support other ownership buildings giving the chances for two other families to have access to affordable housing.

“When I see the excitement in the families’ faces and interact with them after they are in the homes and I find out children are going to college children are playing division one basketball, children are going into the ministry, children are going into the mission so I think what the children are able to do as a result of this is a lot of the excitement,” Wenger explained.

To help with the project CVHFH is using a combination of private funds and donations.

“In total there will be four different duplexes and for the first time we are building a triplex and that will be our 11 units in that. Then our partner will build five other duplexes for a total of 21 units. He is working on keeping those in an affordable market range,” Wenger said.

Once a family is selected for a home, the work does not stop there. The soon-to-be homeowners take a hands-on approach to building the home, they get a tool kit for home repairs and they get to take classes on budgeting and learning more about how to be a homeowner.

“So hopefully over the course of the next two years, we will average six units a year. As I like to say, it is not about the buildings or the units. It is about working with the families that are going to go into these homes,” Wenger said.

For more information on the Central Valley Habitat for Humanity, click here.

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