Check out my latest feature story at DestinationTampaBay.com. I profile Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County and the wonderful doors they are opening for new homeowners across the county (literally and figuratively!) The group recently learned from Habitat of Humanity International that of the 1,300 Habitat locations across the U.S., they have the second largest thumbprint on the community and households served by their leadership and impressive volunteer program. (For those of you curious cats like me, the number one spot is held by Collier County Florida, my former hometown where I grew up and went to school, so there you go. A little trivia for you this morning.)
I had the distinct pleasure of not only getting to talk with the charismatic and dedicated CEO for Habitat Pinellas, Mike Sutton, but I also got a chance to talk directly to one of its beneficiaries who took part in the homebuyer program. There are a lot of misconceptions out there about Habitat for Humanity. If you are under the impression that houses are being given away, then you need to read this piece. Of course, I also wrote it, so I wouldn’t mind you reading it either way.
And if you are here in the Tampa Bay area, I hope that you will consider Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County this year as a possible recipient for a donation, a volunteer opportunity and even a browsing spot, as you may not realize they have two retail locations where those who enjoy doing their own home improvements can shop and save on the same types of materials you might find at your local Home Depot or Lowe’s. It’s certainly worth popping by one of their ReStore locations in Palm Harbor and Clearwater for a peek or to donate goods for the organization to resell.
Thank you again to Mike at Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County and Kelly Wooten and her family for sharing their story with me. (The photo posted here from a recent build is courtesy of Habitat Pinellas, too!)
Don’t forget next Tuesday,.May 1 is Give Day Tampa Bay 2018, an opportunity for all of us to give back to area nonprofits and let them know we appreciate the work they do. Just sayin’… As always, thanks for reading. ~ Chris K.
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