On April 16th the early morning sun was shining and there was a crisp coolness to the air, a pleasant surprise for mid-April. Over 20 members of Lemon Bay Sunrise Rotary Club gathered at a construction site with one mission – to begin construction on Charlotte County Habitat for Humanity’s 350th home!

Along with the sound of generators, compressors and hammering there was excitement in the air. Some of these volunteers have worked on other Habitat homes but something was special about this one! Many could not believe “that here in little ole Charlotte County we are helping build Habitat’s 350th home”. Charlotte County Habitat is very proud of this accomplishment. With over 1,300 Habitat affiliates in the United States, very few have reached this landmark.

Jessica Sharp, a hardworking deserving mother of two sons, has been selected to be the homeowner for this milestone home. After qualifying for Habitat’s homeownership program, Jessica completed her 300 hours of sweat equity, completed her homeowner education and paid her escrow deposit. She is very excited to become a homeowner and to be able to provide a safe, decent and affordable home for herself as well as her boys. This is the beginning to a brighter future.

Jessica’s home is 1 of 9 Habitat homes under construction. All 9 homes will be complete by mid-June, and Jessica is 1 of 22 families that will realize the dream of homeownership through Habitat for Humanity’s program during our 2015-2016 fiscal year. Next year we plan to partner with 30 local deserving families in our homeownership program.

The need for affordable housing continues to rise and we are seeing an increase of families in need. Will you please consider making a financial gift to support our homeownership program? We also invite you to join us at a build site. For more information, please visit our website, www.charlottecountyhfh.org or call 941-639-3162.

Thank you for helping us build a stronger community one family at a time.