Women Build is back this year with a hybrid of in-person service and virtual fundraising! We are inviting all of Alamance County to join us in raising the funds to sponsor the Habitat Women Build house! The Women Build program is not about excluding men; it’s about including women and challenging them to help eliminate poverty housing in our community by providing a female-friendly work site that empowers women to take leadership roles and learn new skills.
Our goal for this event is threefold: Raise money to build the house, empower women, and raise awareness of the need for affordable housing. You can be part of our effort by signing up to serve and/or donating below. Share the link to this page with your friends and network. Help us get the word out!!
Building together: You will find women of all ages, ethnicities, professions, and faiths serving together on the Women Build construction site. We hope you’ll join us!
Thank you to our 2023 sponsors!
Ways to get involved:
September 5-9th: Individuals will volunteer side-by-side with future homeowners offering a unique opportunity to highlight the ways Habitat for Humanity empowers women and builds stability in our community. You will work with our skilled construction staff to learn new skills, get some fresh air and exercise and, most importantly, to help provide deserving families in our community with a decent place to live.
No experience is necessary, just a desire to help and to learn something new. Please wear work appropriate clothes – dress for the weather and wear close-toed shoes. You may bring your own tools if you’d like, but Habitat will provide everything you’ll need for the day. Habitat volunteers perform a variety of critical tasks, including painting, framing, roofing, and installing flooring, cabinets, doors, and windows.
When: She Nailed It! week is September 5-9th from 8-11:30am each day.
How: To reserve a spot for your volunteer shift one day that week or ask any questions, email swilliams@habitatalamance.org.
Cost: Volunteers are asked to donate $50 to serve and support our fundraising goal (includes a Women Build t-shirt). While this is a fundraiser and the only month we have volunteers pay to serve, we don’t want registration to be a barrier, so scholarships are available upon request.
Want to serve with a group of friends? You can gather friends and work side-by-side with future homeowners under the leadership of our skilled construction staff to learn new skills, get some fresh air and exercise and, most importantly, to help provide deserving families in our community with a decent place to live.
To form a team, gather up to 8 of you and your friends to:
- Serve one morning that month on the build site
- Fundraise $1,000 (you can all pitch in or ask for support from family and friends; each team will have their own webpage to share out)
- Get a t-shirt and enjoy lunch on us at the build site after your shift
- Be entered in to win a raffle of a swag item featuring local, women-owned business items – it happens each team shift so someone on your team will win!
- Help provide a family with a decent place to live
To reserve a spot or ask any questions, email swilliams@habitatalamance.org.
To sponsor or ask any questions, email swilliams@habitatalamance.org. If your business or church wants to sponsor our event, perks include the following:
If you would like to make a donation to the Women Build house, you can do so here.
Another option in addition to (or in place of) serving on the build site is to “buy” an item for the Women Build house. Items are listed below and available in a variety of options and price points.
Steps in the process:
- Select your item that you wish to “buy” as a donation for the house.
- Add name(s)/message:
You can provide a name and message (prayer, blessing, wish, scripture) to appear on the item and we’ll add that to the stud, back of the cabinet, etc. that you “buy.” If you ask your family, friends, Sunday School class, office, etc. to share the cost of the item(s), we can list all the names. If you prefer NOT to have your name appear on the item you “buy”, you can list your name as “Anonymous” and still include a message. There is a 15 word maximum for the message. - The house is built with the gifted items you “bought.”
If you’d like to help our Core Crew by volunteering to build, see options above to sign up. Also, you can watch our Facebook page for progress on the house. - Attend the house dedication to see the finished product of the house built using your item(s) with your name and message on them that will live forever within the walls of the Habitat home… wrapping arms of love around that family!
Items available to “buy”:
Donation to “buy” an item for the Women Build House
- $25 – doorknob
- $50 – can of paint
- $75 – light fixture
- $100 – stud
- $150 – mature tree for the yard
- $250 – truss
- $500 – doors
- $1,000 – bath cabinets
- $2,500 – kitchen cabinets
Click here to select your item(s) to buy for the home.
If you have any questions, contact swilliams@habitatalamance.org.
Women Build, now an international effort, started right here in North Carolina when our Charlotte affiliate organized the first one in 1991. It grew to other states and nations, eventually becoming a formal department and initiative of Habitat for Humanity International in 1998.
While Habitat Alamance initially offered Women Build programs in the 1990s, our current annual Women Build program launched in 2015. Every year since, the tradition has grown engaging and empowering more women. What began as a week-long build is now an entire month.
In 2019, the first VIP Kick-Off day was held to launch that year’s Women Build. It included women leaders from around our community including Kelly Blackwelder, Elon police chief; Connie Book, president of Elon University; Lavern Delaney, vice president of nursing and patient services, Cone Health ARMC; Tracey Grayzer, president Impact Alamance; Tyronna Hooker, executive director of Alamance Achieves; Kathy Hykes, Burlington mayor pro-tem; Judge Katie Overby, district court judge; Patti Philipps, Mebane city council; Nikki Ratliff, board chairwoman, United Way; and Carolyn Rhode, vice president, Alamance Community College.
In 2020, even the global pandemic could not stop this effort. Instead, Women Build went virtual as “She Raised It” with online efforts to engage and fundraise. The innovation and dedication of women that year led to more funds raised more than in any previous Alamance County Women Build. It was another example of the power of women coming together to help other women.
In 2021, we held a hybrid version of engaging and fundraising resulting in over $21,000 raised with 10 teams of women and over 100 volunteers. Our VIP Kick-Off day theme was women business leaders and included Kathie Niven of Biscuitville, Pam Fox of Twin Lakes, Michelle Langdon of Labcorp, and Erin Cockman of Milestone Wealth Management.
In 2022, we held another hybrid event bringing in over $22,000 with 115+ women serving with us that month. Our VIP Kick-Off day theme was women in real estate and we had several local realtors serving on the build site.
Reference: https://www.habitat.org/volunteer/near-you/women-build/history
