Mount Olive lands Habitat home for 2018
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 15, 2017 10:09 AM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
The Rev. Steven Wicks, left, the Rev. Lula Newkirk, the Rev. Jonathan Altman of Partners, and Matthew Whittle, Habitat executive director, discuss the Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne home build in Mount Olive.
MOUNT OLIVE -- It has been decades since the corner lot at West Pollock and South Chestnut streets was also a lawn. The large house that once sat there was demolished years ago.
But Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne and Mount Olive Partners for Habitat want the lot to once again have a home.
Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne is planning a build at 202 W. Pollock St. The groundbreaking has not yet been scheduled, but the goal is to start building in early 2018, said Matthew Whittle, Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne executive director.
It will take about four months to build.
A public information meeting on the project will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 16, at Steele Memorial Library for both interested applicants and supporters.
Future public information meetings will be held, Whittle said.
Thursday's meeting will include a short presentation at about 6:30 p.m., and Habitat officials will be available to talk to anybody who wants or needs more information. Members of Partners for Habitat of Mount Olive will also attend the meeting.
The Rev. Lula Newkirk of Helping Hands United Mission and the Rev. Jonathan Altman, pastor at Thunder Swamp Pentecostal Holiness Church, are project co-chairmen.
The Rev. Steven Wicks, pastor at Mount Olive Presbyterian Church, is chairman of the fundraising committee.
Partners for Habitat of Mount Olive is a loose-knit organization made up of churches, businesses, clubs and individuals, he said.
Habitat has built seven houses in the community, and those groups have been very generous and supportive to build them, Wicks said.
An organizational meeting was held about a month ago, he said. The group is continuing to organize other leadership positions such as volunteer coordinator, publicity, family nurture, chaplain and other aspects, Wicks said.
"People have been very generous in the past, businesses and clubs," Wicks said. "So we will put together a plan to approach them for support for the next house. We welcome everybody."
Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne over the past several years with Mount Olive Partners for Habitat built seven houses -- six in town and one the Beautancus community southeast of town.
Whittle, who has been executive director for 18 months, said one of the first trips he made was to meet with the Mount Olive Area Ministerial Association to let its members know the town had not been forgotten
Whittle said he told members they wanted to get back into the town because they knew there is a need for Habitat and safe, decent and affordable housing and that Habitat wanted to be part of that and wanted to part of the solution with them.
He told them at the time it would be about a year to get geared back up, find a piece of land and move forward.
Now, about a year later, Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne was able to obtain the lot at 202 W. Pollock St.
The push now is the search for applicants who meet the qualifications, he said.
"So we have asked churches to put that information out, to put those applications out," Whittle said. "We will get applications at other strategic points in town."
Whittle said he hopes there will be a turnout of people Thursday who want to apply, and of those who just want to be involved in the build.
"We look forward hopefully to this kicking off a continuing relationship between Habitat and Mount Olive and us being able to do more regular schedule of builds down here," he said. "This is a great location here in the middle of town, and we are hoping to kick off and do this on a continuing basis, maybe on an every-other-year basis is the vision right now.
"But we haven't been here in a while. Our hope, I think, is that having kind of a central location here, having a little bit of visibility here is going to get the community excited about it, going to let them see what is going on.
There is nothing like coming out and participating especially if a person is helping build, he said.
"Being part of it and watching it going up, it is a really neat experience," Whittle said. "Being in the middle of town where a lot of people can see it, we are hoping that will raise some awareness -- raise some engagement with it."
The houses are not giveaways, he said. People pay a monthly mortgage. What Habitat does is to give people the opportunity to become homeowners at an affordable mortgage, Whittle said.
"We give them the opportunity to build like I say new foundations of strength, stability and self-reliance through that affordable shelter," he said.
For more information, contact the Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne office at 919-736-9592.