Habitat Goldsboro-Wayne to dedicate 75th new home
By From staff reports
Published in News on December 18, 2017 5:50 AM
With each house that Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne builds, a family experiences a milestone.
Thursday, Habitat for Humanity of Goldsboro-Wayne will celebrate a significant milestone of its own -- the dedication of its 75th new home.
The house at 107 Patsy Lane will be dedicated at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21.
This home, sponsored by the State Employees Credit Union, is part of its Mountains to the Sea Challenge - an effort to underwrite the construction of a Habitat home in every county in North Carolina.
It will be purchased by Ammar and Azlan Alriyashi.
The Alriyashis and their three children, Nasreen, Layal and Mohammed, moved to Goldsboro from Detroit about three years ago.
Currently they are living in a small two-bedroom apartment, paying an exorbitant amount of their salary in rent, Alriyashi said.
But the worst part is not being overcrowded -- though it's poised to get tighter with baby number four, Omar, on the way, Azlan said.
Rather, she said, the worst part is that it's not home. That's what they are more looking forward to -- a house that they can turn into a home.
And that, executive director Matthew Whittle said, is why Habitat has worked with 75-plus families over the last 16 years to give them the opportunity to become homeowners -- to help make those dreams come true.
Habitat does not give houses away, Whittle said.
"We give opportunities," he said. "The families are the ones doing the hard work to help build and then pay for their homes. For us, this is a big milestone and we're proud to have built 75 new homes in Wayne County.
"For a community this size, that's impressive and a testament to our founders, Bill and Jan Edgerton, and to all the support that Habitat has received over the years."
The dedication is really about the Alriyashis and their three children and the opportunity for generational impact that their hard work is now affording them, he said.
"They deserve this," Whittle said. "They have worked hard. We are so happy for them and honored that we are celebrating this milestone with them."
For more information, contact Whittle at 919-736-9592 ext. 5 or executive@habitatgoldsboro.org.