NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Feb. 6, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- HomeAid, a leading national non-profit provider of housing for today's homeless, announced that it has opened its 19th nationwide chapter, expanding into Charlotte, North Carolina. The new chapter will be called HomeAid Charlotte, and, through the generosity of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte and its members, it will build housing facilities for the community's temporarily homeless population, serving those individuals and families who want to get back on their feet after a life circumstance has rendered them without a home.
The homeless population in Mecklenburg County has grown by 60 percent since 2002, with approximately 8,000 people in need of housing on any given night. Since the temporarily homeless are rarely included in standard community homeless counts, the number of actual homeless people in the Charlotte area may be many thousands more.
"There is a great need to address the rising homeless population in the greater Charlotte area and Mecklenburg County, and the members of our association wanted to give back to our community by doing what we do best: build housing," said Mark Baldwin, executive vice president of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte. "We are proud to join HomeAid in its nationwide effort to build housing facilities for today's homeless."
"The key to HomeAid's growth as a national organization is the generosity of our building industry partners, who -- through their contributions of time and resources -- enable us to multiply every dollar donated two- to three-fold," said Genette Eaton, chief executive officer of HomeAid. "I want to personally thank our builder partners who support HomeAid Charlotte through their local divisions: Beazer Homes USA, David Weekley Homes, John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods, K. Hovnanian(r) Homes, Lennar Corporation, Shea Homes, Standard Pacific Homes and Toll Brothers."
"One of the key benefits that HomeAid brings to our organization is that, when a member builder or trade partner is not able to give money, they can donate their time, expertise and resources to assist in a building project," said Elliot Mann, division president for Standard Pacific Homes and current president of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte. "In giving back to the community in whatever way suits them, our members will have a strong sense of pride in their work to help the local homeless population."
"Donations from national partners were instrumental in the founding of HomeAid Charlotte," added Eaton. "Headquartered in Charlotte, Bank of America played a key role both financially and strategically in completing our expansion plans." Bank of America funded the development of HomeAid's proprietary chapter expansion model that details the process whereby HomeAid works with local building industry associations, service providers and community leaders to form a chapter. In addition, the bank helped marshal local partners to speed the creation of the chapter and secure support for its future building projects.
Pro-Build Holdings, Inc., the nation's largest supplier of building materials to professional contractors, directly funded chapter expansion efforts on the East Coast through a $450,000 multi-year donation that broadens HomeAid's reach into new communities in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states to provide transitional housing for the temporarily homeless. "Pro-Build is proud to support HomeAid in its fight against homelessness," said Frederick M. Marino, vice chairman of Pro-Build Holdings, Inc. "We share in HomeAid's mission of assisting the temporarily homeless in their efforts to get back on their feet, and we are especially pleased to be part of the solution in Charlotte, where we have such strong ties to the community."
Headquartered in Charlotte, National Gypsum Company, a leading supplier of wallboard, interior finishing products and cement board to the construction industry, contributed $25,000 to the operations of HomeAid Charlotte to hire an executive director and get the chapter started. "We are committed to improve the life conditions for the temporarily homeless in Charlotte and grow our community's efforts to combat this very real social problem," said Tom Nelson, CEO of National Gypsum Company and chair of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce.
About Home Builders Association of Charlotte
The Home Builders Association of Charlotte (HBAC) is comprised of more than 1,000 member companies representing nearly 40,000 industry professionals in the greater Charlotte area who are directly involved in new home construction, land development, new home sales, vendors, suppliers, subcontractors and numerous other real estate professions. For more information about HBAC, call 704-376-9524 or visit www.hbacharlotte.com.
About HomeAid
HomeAid is a leading national non-profit provider of housing for today's homeless. Founded in 1989, the organization has built housing for more than 60,000 men, women and children. Established by the Building Industry Association of Southern California, an affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), HomeAid has completed more than 135 housing projects nationwide with another 58 projects currently in development. HomeAid includes a network of 19 chapters in 13 states and four offices in Newport Beach, CA (headquarters); Washington, D.C.; Augusta, GA; and New Orleans, LA (for hurricane rebuilding efforts). For more information about HomeAid, call 949-258-0850 or visit homeaid.org.
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