Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County will celebrate the Labor Day holiday with its annual Jimmy Johnson Labor of Love Blitz build, to be held August 31 through September 4, 2011. This year’s blitz is an exciting endeavor during which volunteers will get eight houses in two locations “under roof” in four days. Four houses will start at the Smith Farm location in Kernersville, and four in Trent Hill, located in Smith Farms. Both are residential neighborhoods badly effected by the downturn in the economy and the housing market.

Blitz builds are difficult enough, but this year the dual locations present even greater demandson Habitat’s full-time construction staff, said Mart Gordon, Director of Construction. “Working at two locations will present a greater challenge for our team, yet they’ll also provide even more volunteer opportunities for those who would like to experience building with Habitat for Humanity.”

As a result of the economic downturn, some houses in both Smith Farm and Trent Hill were left unfinished after foundations were poured, and remaining lots went into foreclosure. In partnership with the City of Winston-Salem, Habitat for Humanity bought the remaining empty lots and additional foreclosed homes to finish out the neighborhoods. All of thehouses will be sold to families who have met the requirements of the Habitat program, which include serving 300 to 400 hours of “sweat equity,” attending homeownership education classes, and demonstrating their ability to make monthly payments on a 20-year, interest-free mortgage from Habitat.

Build sponsors this year include teams from Targacept, Wake Forest University/Wake Forest Baptist Health, WomenBuild (a group of local women raising funds to sponsor
a house built entirely by local women); Habitat Young Professionals (a group of young people in different professions throughout the City who work together to build a house) and The John Henry Myers Memorial House. The Labor of Love Blitz honors the late Jimmy Johnson, a well-known builder, leader in the Home Builders Association and supporter of Habitat. Johnson died in 2004. Jimmy’s family and many builder friends take part in this event each year.

Labor of Love volunteers will be on site from 8 a.m. to 3p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. If you would like to volunteer during blitz, or help provide lunches for these hard working volunteers, please contact Sherry Flynn, Volunteer Development Manager, at: 336 765-8854 Ext. 105 or by email at: sherry.flynn@habitatforsyth.org.