Milledgeville Habitat selected to hold International Summit

Published 10:25 am Saturday, January 9, 2016

Milledgeville Habitat for Humanity has been selected to host an International Summit. Milledgeville is one of three cities that will host a summit this year. The other two summits will be in Portland, Ore., and St. Louis, Mo.

Milledgeville Habitat has been functioning for 20 years. However, after the recession ended in 2012, the local Habitat was on the brink of collapse.

“Three years ago after the recession, Milledgeville Habitat was in bad shape and on the verge of closing,” said Murali Thirumal, executive director. “Thanks to the community and the board, we were able to turn it around.”

Thirumal said that within the last three years, Milledgeville Habitat has served more than 35 families, explaining that building one house helps one family but that Habitat does much more than just build and give away homes.

“Habitat signed to neighborhood revitalization with a national program. We selected Harrisburg (community),” Thirumal said. “It had the greatest need in Baldwin County, which was from high crime and employment issues. The keyword is — was.”

Harrisburg is a historically black community about 200 years old located in Hardwick between Highway 441 South and East Allen Memorial Drive.

Thirumal said a group of nonprofit organizations, churches and businesses joined together to form a coalition with the residents of Harrisburg in an effort to better the community.

Habitat was, of course, part of the coalition. Due to its hard work, Habitat was awarded a $40,000 planning grant through the Knight Foundation last year. With the grant money, Habitat brought in community planners who are drawing an urban redevelopment plan.

“We aim to restore Harrisburg to its former glory,” Thirumal said.

It is through these acts that Milledgeville Habitat for Humanity gained notice by the national organization, which is headquartered in Atlanta.

“We are very, very excited to have this group coming to town,” Thirumal said. “This means exposure and a morale boost to those working hard to bring the community attention.”

More than 200 people involved in Habitat for Humanity will arrive in Milledgeville Monday, from CEO Jonathan Reckford to volunteers from different affiliates, staff of affiliates, board members and other who have signed up to attend.

The summit will be held Tuesday through Thursday. Tuesday, attendees will travel to Harrisburg and tour the community and the work Habitat and its residents have done for neighborhood revitalization, which is the key topic of the Milledgeville summit.

After the neighborhood tour, the summit guests will meet with several members of the Harrisburg community in a town hall style meeting. At the meeting, attendees will be able to learn what is working well and challenges residents and coalition members may be facing.

Wednesday will feature a slew of informational presentations called intensives featuring construction, resource development, volunteer engagement and neighborhood revitalization.

Thursday will be a half day for attendees, who will continue learning at intensives that will focus on ReStore (the Habitat store, which is one of the main ways Habitat affiliates make money), financial management, home repair rather than building new homes, and a conference that focuses on teaching women homeowners how to work with neighbors and community leaders to get started and complete neighborhood projects.

“This is a huge feather in our cap to be recognized,” Thirumal said. “It’s hard to compare, but to know someone at the top has recognized us gives us a morale boost to know who we are and what we’re doing. This is not the end of something, but a continuation of work to better one community at a time.”

Thirumal said he hopes the recognition by Habitat International will allow the Milledgeville affiliate to pursue larger grants and funding at the federal and state levels because it shows granters and donors that the Milledgeville Habitat is using the money wisely.

“This is an endorsement that I hope gets people into housing. That also translates into improving literacy,” Thirumal said, citing a scientific study that shows a link between permanent homes and reading ability in children. “This also lets the community know that all these people have faith in this organization. They, the community, made this happen. It is not a ‘one-person-did-everything situation.’”

Hosting a summit is not something for which affiliates can apply and then be chosen. Habitat International goes through an internal vetting process after selecting several affiliate locations that have gained the attention of headquarters due to the work done in the community in which the affiliate serves. Thirumal said a small affiliate such as Milledgeville being chosen out of the 1,400 national affiliates is a once-in-a-lifetime event for the city.

Thirumal thanks the Harrisburg community and Milledgeville as a whole for helping to make the Milledgeville Habitat a success. Special recognition goes to Georgia Military College, Georgia College, Central Georgia Technical College, Baldwin Family Connection, Milledgeville Community Garden Association, First United Methodist Church, Northridge Christian Church, Harrisburg Progressive Citizens Association, Need a Nerd, other local businesses and many others. Thirumal said these groups did not simply donate money, but have donated time, labor and many other items to help Milledgeville Habitat in its mission.

ReStore, from which a large part of Milledgeville Habitat’s funding comes, is located at 730 N. Wayne St. It accepts item donations and then resells those donations. To donate money to Milledgeville Habitat, donors can mail to P.O. Box 105, Milledgeville, Ga. 31059. To make a donation of time and labor, call 478-453-9617. Thirumal said prior knowledge of a saw and nail gun is helpful, but a person without construction knowledge can paint, carry lumber, run errands or help in ReStore.