A Tradition of Faith in Action Continues

Since its start in the Sandhills as an ecumenical Christian ministry, Habitat for Humanity has engaged the local faith community throughout the year. Some churches are moved to partner with our Aging in Place program, helping to fund and volunteering to build wheelchair ramps or providing other critical home repairs for elderly or disabled community members. Many choose to focus their investment of time and treasure through our Apostles Build, now held every spring. This build aims to gather 12 churches or coalitions of churches to offset some of the cost of one home in the annual build schedule.

Although our average total home cost now exceeds $200,000, we keep our full home sponsorship amount of $70,000. The homebuyer's future mortgage payments and proceeds from our successful ReStore fund the remaining cost. An entire Apostle partner church provides $6,000 (or 1/12 of the full sponsorship) or more toward the build and a weekend of volunteers within the 3-month build schedule.

This year's build starts as usual with Pastor's Day, when our local church leaders will share a day of fellowship and building. This year's Pastor's Day kicks off the build on Thursday, April 24th. The build will be carried out over the remaining spring and summer months, with a home dedication slated for the fall.

We are grateful to many local churches who have been taking part in this build for decades and for those who are new to Habitat. Volunteer Dan Joslin and his committee organize the build and keep everyone in touch with Habitat happenings throughout the year at various church partners' Faith Relations meetings several times a year. The lunches have been underway for many years as a small group setting where questions can be answered, and ideas can be brainstormed as to how best to carry out the mission of Habitat in line with our faith community. If you are reading this and wondering if your church is participating, here's a breakdown of the partners already in action – if you want to become involved, please let us know!          

Peace and Grace,

Amie N. Fraley

Executive Director  

Aberdeen First Baptist Church

Bethesda Presbyterian Church

Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC

Brownson Memorial Presbyterian Church

City Light Church of Rockingham 

Chapel in the Pines

Community Presbyterian Church

Culdee Presbyterian Church

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority

Eagle Springs Baptist

Emmanuel Episcopal Church

Faith Assembly Outreach Hamlet

First Methodist of Rockingham

First Presbyterian of Carthage

First Presbyterian Rockingham

Freedom Baptist Church

Hamlet First Baptist Church

Mount Zion United Church of Christ

Mt. Sinai Baptist Church

Now Faith Ministries Raeford

Penick Village

Pinehurst First Baptist Church

Pinehurst United Methodist Church

Redeemer Presbyterian Church

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Southern Pines First Baptist Church

Southern Pines United Methodist Church

St. Joseph of the Pines, 

The Village Chapel

West End Presbyterian Church

Please join us for this meeting focusing on our 2025 Apostles Build. During the meeting, we will be looking to fill out our build teams. You can begin considering weekend options for your church. We will fill each workday with ten volunteers, and our weekends run from Thursday through Saturday. We work from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. In addition to the ten reserved slots, we will allow smaller churches and those not already participating to get acquainted with our mission by bringing out two or three volunteers.

Please join us for International Women's Day

Empowerment Brunch

Pinehurst Country Club

One Carolina Vista Drive

Saturday, March 8th at 11:00 AM

General Seating $100

Student Tickets $50

Please consider sponsoring a scholar student with the additional 

purchase of a student ticket or an invitation to your sponsored table. 

Shanelle Taylor- Apostles Build Homebuyer Partner      

"Seeing Pink"

In 2022, Shanelle Taylor started applying for eligibility for a Habitat home. "I didn't think I would qualify because I thought I wasn't making enough money," she explains. But Shanelle qualified and now will be watching and helping as her house—the 2025 Apostles build—is constructed starting in the spring of 2025. Shanelle is excited as she anticipates her new home. She is an ambitious young woman, and applying for a home fits right with her approach to life. And she shares her beautiful smile generously.

After Shanelle graduated from Union Pines High School, she took a gap year, moving to Maryland to live with an aunt and gain work experience.

When she was ready to return to school, she moved back in with her mother in Carthage. An office administration degree earned last year at Sandhills Community College did not satisfy her ambition. While she works toward an additional medical billing and coding degree, she has a job at Shade Trends where she has worked for the last 3 years. "I think this degree will pair well with my degree in office administration. My ideal working situation would be a hybrid one, where I work in an office sometimes but also from home."

A lover of plants, Shanelle jokes that her mother has threatened to throw her out if she brings more plants into the house. She explains, "It's not so much that I buy new plants, but I start new ones from cuttings of my current plants." She plans to dedicate one of the bedrooms to growing her plants. She is hoping to have room in her yard for a garden. Music also plays a part in her life. In high school, she played the clarinet in a band and took anything related to music that she could. Shanelle is most excited about decorating and furnishing her home and filling her yard with flowers and trees.

She expects that her favorite color, pink, will play a role in her decor choice. She is also looking forward to being able to invite friends and family over. "One of my friends lives about half an hour away, and another friend an hour away in the other direction, so it is hard for the three of us to get together because of our schedules. Once I have my own place, we will have a place to hang out," adds Shanelle.

"I love to go anywhere I can dress up!" effuses Shanelle. "I'm good at costumes and makeup." She participates in Cosplay. (Participants wear costumes and play as specific characters; Shanelle likes anime characters). She also recently participated in a Renaissance Fair.

Shanelle Taylor has a bright and colorful future, which will undoubtedly be reflected in her homeownership, too. She paints a verbal picture of a vibrant home full of warmth, welcome, fellowship, smiles, and, of course, pink.

Blessings,

LuAnn Kinney

Faith Relations Committee Member

Mark your calendars for Saturday, April 26, 2025

Our annual gala is on the horizon!

What better way to celebrate than honoring the centennial of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby!" The gala committee has been hard at work planning a Gatsby-esque party. This year, expect an array of party experiences, including a best-dressed contest, flapper headband station, live art, games, "speakeasy" stations, a themed photo booth, and more. We're excited to celebrate with our volunteers and supporters while honoring this great literary work with the party of the year.

Along with experiences at the gala, the committee also shifted focus to "experiences" for auction! Get ready for fun vacations, sporting events, group parties, and dining experiences from a few new business owners around town. We can't wait to show you what we have in stock, so stay tuned for some teasers—we'll be sending those through email publication and social media.

Kimberly Sutton

2025 Gala Chair

Recipient: Nora Stroman

Location: Marston

Work Completed: HVAC installation and Roof repair

Ms. Nora Stroman from the Marston Community in Richmond County applied for assistance to replace her failed 3-tab shingled roof and to replace some fascia boards. She was approved for support through our Urgent Repair Program (URP) Grant.

While completing the necessary paperwork for the grant, her HVAC system stopped working and could not be repaired. With winter approaching, we decided to replace her HVAC system and make repairs to her shingled roof instead of doing a total replacement. Ms. Stroman was very grateful for our assistance.

Welcome our Business Partner Ascot Homes

 Ascot Realty builds more than just houses—they build hope! We proudly support Habitat in creating affordable homes, brighter futures, and stronger communities. We look forward to seeing you on the build site!

"The Classiest Cashiers in the County"

Habitat ReStore cashiers set the tone for our shoppers each day as they are the first face and voice of the ReStore experience. We are grateful for this dedicated team of volunteers and wanted you to know more about a few of them! We also have an opportunity for you to join this great group, as we are currently looking to fill the following shifts:

• Tuesdays, 10 am-2 pm
• Wednesdays, 12 pm-2 pm
• Thursdays, 10 am-2 pm
• Saturdays, 9 am-1 pm & 1 pm-5 pm

No experience is needed, and we will provide you with all the necessary training. You are also generally paired with another volunteer cashier, so help is always right beside you. If you would like to learn more or shadow a cashier, please email ReStore Director Dondi Jones at djones@sandhillshabitat.org.

Meet Sharon Payne

After majoring in Economics at the University of Maryland and trying a brief stint in accounting, Sharon became interested in computers and spent the next 40 years working at the Department of Defense and the Department of Treasury! She's covered everything from programming to cybersecurity. Sharon and her husband moved to the Sandhills in 2021 and have two adult children (a son and family in Oklahoma and a daughter in New Mexico). When not at Habitat, Sharon enjoys pickleball, gardening, reading, and cheering on the WVU Mountaineers and the Washington Commanders (so she's pretty happy)! Sharon says the staff and volunteers at the ReStore are the best, and she's thankful for the opportunity to serve as a cashier, which she had never tried before joining Habitat.

Meet Tess Smith

Tess is a self-proclaimed military brat with parents from the area (and still alive at 88 and 87) and a 40-year marriage to a military man. She's lived across the globe including Spain and Italy! Tess has a financial background, two grown sons, and a grandson. She lives in Aberdeen and loves the outdoors, including caring for her 90-pound Belgian Malinois/Husky and 13 chickens, as well as golf and travel (just back from a 70-mile hike over 6 days in Scotland). From Tess, "I love being here at Habitat ReStore, and the people I work with are such blessings to me."

Meet Mike Money

Michael hails from the peaceful landscapes of upstate New York but chose to relocate to the vibrant culture of Phoenix. After over two decades as a federal employee, he is now retired. Michael's passion for antiques makes Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore an ideal place for him to volunteer. In addition to his volunteer work, he enjoys singing and playing the piano.

It's a fun opportunity to meet like-minded friends who support affordable housing. Great staff, flexible hours! Join us for our monthly Volunteer Session on Thursday, February 20th at 5:00 pm, to learn about Habitat's volunteer opportunities. Whether you enjoy the outdoors and hands-on construction or working in the ReStore, we can custom-fit an experience that you will find rewarding and fun! We know there is an abundance of volunteer opportunities in Moore County. We strive to make your time a rewarding and beneficial experience at Sandhills Habitat. We value, respect, support, encourage, and enjoy exemplary relationships with volunteers.

We are grateful for the dedication of those who make contributions in memory of their loved ones. We invite you to continue this legacy of love and remembrance by considering a donation in honor of someone special in your life!

Habitat Board Members

OFFICERS 

Dr. Fallon Brewington, Chair Tim Dwyer, Vice Chair

Lisa Fagan, Secretary

Larry Smith Treasurer

Amie Fraley, Executive Director

DIRECTORS

Tavares Bostic

Sally Brown 

Daphne Dudley

Karen Dulmage

Ted Esparza

Fran Grandinetti

Jim Hart

Robert Jackson

Karen Reese May

Helen Probst Mills

Kayla Prestwood

Sue Ralston 

Jill Saunders

Diane Wilson

Be sure to follow the new ReStore Facebook page

to learn about the latest inventory and sales

@sandhillsrestore