Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley (HFHLV) partnered with the nationwide initiative Women Build Week, sponsored by Lowe’s, to further their mission of building strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.
National Women Build Week is an annual weeklong event dedicated to empowering female build crews on the construction site through the rehabilitation and construction of homes. This week is meant to spotlight the homeownership challenges women face. National Women Build Week is held the week leading up to Mother’s Day, helping in the recruitment of new volunteers with various community fundraisers, such as the recent She Nailed It! competition HFHLV hosted at ArtsQuest. HFHLV’s friends at Wells Fargo, who recently donated $15,000 to HFHLV’s Valley Street project, are huge assets to the volunteer oriented organization. On Wednesday May 10th a group of women from Wells Fargo traded in their usual work attire for hammers and hard hats to help in the demolition and reconstruction of two adjacent homes on Valley Street in Easton. They were joined with individual female HFHLV volunteers and the Commercial Real Estate Women Network (CREW) of the Lehigh Valley volunteers. CREW of LV is another local community group that focuses on leading youth and professional development, specifically assisting women with interest in commercial real estate. These on-site demo’s will be occurring throughout this week, allowing women volunteers to get involved whether it be by hammering, framing, window repair or on-site clean up.
Currently, during National Women Build Week in 2017, three hundred communities in the country are being positively impacted by various volunteers lending a hand. Since 1989, HFHLV specifically has reconstructed and built 113 homes for hardworking, low income families in the Lehigh Valley area, and the number of families who partner with the non-profit organization continues to grow with events like National Women Build Week. By partnering with other local community stakeholders such as Wells Fargo, HFHLV is able to considerably improve and build homes for local homebuyers who are willing to work alongside HFHLV as the dream of homeownership becomes a reality.
Volunteers are always needed whether it be at the job site, in the office and ReStore or reaching out and mentoring the families and homebuyers. For more information on how you can get involved, HFHLV can be reached on their Facebook page, at their website (www.habitatlv.org), or at their office (245 North Graham St. Allentown, PA).
Information Provided By:
Stephen Stoddard
Development Associate
Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley
