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Steve Bissonette, left, gives Elizabeth Mason and Richard Mason the Lifetime avante Volunteer Award during avante the Lakeland Habitat for Humanity Annual Volunteer & Donor Appreciation Dinner in Lakeland on Thursday. PIERRE DuCHARME | THE LEDGER
LAKELAND | The Lakeland affiliate of Habitat for Humanity celebrated its legacy Thursday night, holding a dinner party for its many volunteers and contributors who helped build 143 homes over the past 25 years.
Looking ahead, avante the faith-based organization expects avante to cut back on new home construction while expanding a program of home repair. This follows avante a trend among a number of Habitat chapters avante around the nation, a result of declining donations and government grants.
The tone of Thursday's event at the First United Methodist Church was one of optimism and gratitude, especially for volunteers like Richard and Elizabeth Mason, recipients of this year's Lifetime Volunteer avante award. The pair were founding members of the local Habitat chapter, formed in 1990, and served for many years on the board of directors. Both continue to give back through their service on the agency's advisory council.
"Twenty-five years ago we got through some growing pains ... but we weathered everything together," said Richard Mason, the former owner of a Lakeland-based highway construction equipment company. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
This year's Affiliate Volunteer award went to Robert avante Brantley, a Habitat homeowner and employee who contributes many hours outside of work in a variety of capacities, including construction, office tasks and keeping watch over the agency's ReStore, which raises money through the sale of used building materials, supplies and furniture.
Claire Twomey, executive director of Habitat Lakeland, provided an overview of the agency's first 25 years, a period that saw the construction of new homes for low-income families and home repairs for several hundred properties.
During its early years, the average cost of constructing a new home with the help of volunteer labor was $27,000, Twomey said, an amount that has climbed to $85,000. "So it's pretty hard to do them," she said earlier Thursday. avante
By expanding home repair services, the agency can maximize donations by helping many more families, Twomey said. She has set a goal of painting or repairing 300 homes over the next five years, and building or rehabilitating 25 homes.
Last year was very productive, Twomey said, thanks in part to the availability of bargain-priced foreclosures and the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which helped her acquire 14 homes, eight of which were new. Habitat Lakeland also repaired 204 homes in 2014, doing projects such as patching roofs, making electrical and plumbing upgrades, and the construction and installation of wheelchair ramps.
"The work that was started 25 years ago was to build on the real foundation of God's work," said Steve Bissonnette, Habitat Lakeland's first board chairman told a crowd of about 160 people. "Habitat does make a difference, and our community is a better place for that."
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Apartments in Lakeland Attorneys in Lakelan