At left, Lynn Leach Executive Director Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity and Lori Turner Executive Director Community Foundation for Rockbridge Bath and Alleghany show off the new truck that the foundation assisted the organization in acquiring. (CFRBA photo)

Donor Establishes Rockbridge Area Habitat For Humanity Fund At CFRBA   Lexington, VA (July 21, 2017) - Lori Turner, Executive Director of the Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath, and Alleghany Counties has announced the establishment of an endowment fund to support Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity. “Proceeds from the fund are unrestricted and may be used as needed by the agency. An annual distribution may be claimed by Habitat, or that interest may be left in the fund to further increase the endowment,” Turner said. “Rockbridge Area Habitat has done a great job in our community and has attracted the attention of this generous donor,” said Turner. “This anonymous donor carefully researches and selects the agencies he chooses to assist, and he clearly believes RAHfH is worthy of his support through the CFRBA. Other donors may also contribute to RAHfH through this fund, which will further increase its yield to support the Habitat mission.” Through the generosity of this donor the RAHfH was able to purchase a new box truck for its use. RAHfH desperately needed to replace its aging ReStore box truck, which required frequent repairs, and this grant award made that purchase possible. “We’re delighted to be the recipients of this anonymous donor’s generosity,” said RAHfH Executive Director Lynn Leech. “RAHfH receives no money from Habitat International or the United Way, and fundraising in a rural area like Rockbridge County is a constant challenge. It has long been my dream that we could establish an endowment that would provide a source of steady income to support Habitat’s mission to provide affordable housing solutions to low-income local families and ensure the affiliate’s sustainability for years to come. Thanks this donor, that seed has been planted! “RAHfH offers a hand up, not a hand out to help low-income families achieve financial stability and financial independence through homeownership,” Leech continued. “Through our partnership with qualified families, we sell the homes we build to them at no profit. Using volunteer labor further reduces the cost of these homes to the buyers. “We have received several awards in recent years from Habitat Virginia for building more homes in ratio to population than any other affiliate in the state. And we are very careful stewards of every donor dollar: in FY 2016-17, 92.7% of every dollar went directly to programming.” Since its founding in 1989, RAHfH has built 67 homes in Rockbridge County. The affiliate currently builds four homes each year: three are stick-built on site by volunteers and the fourth is built on the RCHS campus by students in the building trades department and is then transported to its permanent foundation on a lot owned by RAHfH, where it is completed by Habitat volunteers. Habitat homes are not free. Each partner family finances their home through a low-interest, subsidized loan through USDA/RD. In addition, everyone over the age of 18 in the household must contribute 200 hours of sweat equity to build their own home as well as homes of other partner families. Furthermore, all adults in the household are required to take 27 hours of classroom instruction on subjects such as budgeting, spending plans, understanding predatory lending and credit, and other topics related to homeownership. This training is designed to make homeownership a positive, successful experience for each family. In addition to building new homes, RAHfH has recently expanded its home repair program to provide home preservation, critical and aging-in-place repairs to local low-income homeowners. Recipients of these repairs must pay a portion of the costs for these repairs (based on a sliding income scale) and are also required to contribute some form of sweat equity toward the project. Last year RAHfH performed 9 critical repair projects – ranging from new roofs to handicap ramps -- and expects to continue to grow the program. For more information about the Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity Fund or information about starting your own fund please contact Lori Turner at 540-463-0943 or lori.turner@cfrba.org. * * * * * * About The CFRBA The Community Foundation for Rockbridge, Bath and Alleghany encourages donors interested in learning more about creating new funds to contact Lori Turner at 540-463-0943 lori.turner@cfrba.org for more information.

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