A local home built by Habitat Catawba Valley was featured as the "Home of the Month" by the U.S. Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) Program earlier this month.

Habitat's "Julia II" is a 1,240 square-foot, one level, three bedroom, two bathroom home located in the Northstone subdivision in Hickory, NC. After its completion in 2018, the home earned the U.S. DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Housing Innovation Award. The home is calculated to save $1,100 on utilities annually in comparison to typical new homes, and $49,000 in the first 30 years.

“Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley takes great pride in building high-performance homes that are not only affordable to purchase, but also affordable to operate and maintain. We believe that affordability and sustainability go hand-in-hand.” - Derek Ross, Habitat Catawba Valley Construction Supervisor

View the DOE's Tour of Julia II

Recently, Habitat Catawba Valley entered into a new partnership with Copperweld Building Wire who donated their new Cu-Clad NM brand of Building Wire for our most recent houses in Northstone. They even sent a team of folks to help guide us through the install on...

Habitat Repairs! has started a new repair program we call Habitat Partners. This is for Church and other groups that have a team capable of doing repairs for low income households in the area but need funding. Habitat can provide up to $1,500.00 for materials per project and we can provide shingles for re-roofing projects. The type of work can include painting, home maintenance, handicap ramps, and roofing.

The requirements are simple. First the families must meet Habitat’s low-income requirements. Second, the group must have the experience and expertise to properly complete the work on their own and have their own tools.

A general guide for household income starts at 29,150.00 for a one-person household and tops out at $54,900 for a family of Eight. Maximum income for a four-person family is $41,600.

This program enables Habitat Repairs! to reach more households since the work done by the Partners will involve little staff resources. In the first six months, eight projects have been completed under the partners program.

If your church or group is interested in participating, please contact Richard Greathouse, our home repair supervisor at 828-324-4663.

Unsafe and non-handicapped accessible entry:

Habitat Repairs! in Catawba County is now three years old. Starting with a grant from Thrivent in 2015, and continuing through the generosity of many private and corporate donors, Habitat Repairs! has raised over $1,000,000 to help low income homeowners stay safe, warm and dry in their own homes. We are now working on our 82nd repair.

Our work includes roofs, plumbing, exterior maintenance, painting, handicap ramps, making safe entrances and exits, gutters repairs, decluttering HVAC, and electrical repairs.

Original roof on a 100 year old house:

Judy Ikard’s son, Brandon, was 14 years old when she applied for a Habitat home. Now she has successfully paid off her mortgage on her Habitat home, and she credits that home with the stability and security that Brandon needed to thrive. Brandon graduated from East Carolina University with a B.S. in Business Administration and a B.A. in Information Technology. His music has been featured in Hip Hop weekly magazine, and he has songs on The Rob and Big Show, CSI Miami, and Breaking Bad. He is also a winner of the ASCAP Music Award. Here’s what Judy wants to say about her Habitat experience:

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Habitat for Humanity for giving me a chance to become a homeowner. This came at a time in my life when I was determined to remove my young son from a neighborhood that I grew up in and loved dearly. At that time the crime rate and drug epidemic was at an all-time high, which motivated me to seek homeownership in a safer neighborhood.

Being able to connect with Habitat was the best thing that could have happened to me at this time. Getting a visit from the committee that informed me that I had been chosen to become a homeowner was life changing. The journey for a better life for me and my son had just begun. Granted, there were many obstacles along the way, such as job loss, losing loved ones, and illness. Through it all I was determined to never give up. Being able to see my son graduate from college with two degrees was truly worth it.

During the good and not so good times there was never a time that I couldn’t reach out to someone at Habitat and receive words of encouragement, recommendations, or just those powerful words “you can do it”, “don’t give up”! These things really meant a lot."

From May 5-13, Habitat and Lowe's engaged women nationwide to work together and build Habitat homes during the 11th annual National Women Build Week! The goal of National Women Build week is to inspire and empower women to advocate and help Habitat homeowners love where they live through building or improving an affordable place they can call home. We want to engage women of all skill levels to join their friends, families and neighbors to build up our communities and lend a hand.