Habitat for Humanity of Laurens County will merge with Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County, the organizations announced Nov. 21.
Under the merger agreement, Habitat Greenville will provide financial, management and leadership resources to create more opportunities for individuals in Laurens County to buy their own homes. The organization will also help provide for revitalization projects of existing owner-occupied homes.
In addition, Habitat Laurens, which has been run entirely by volunteers, will welcome Ben Barron as director of operations for the location.
“This is a big step forward for us,” said Lacresha Dowdy, chairwoman of the Habitat Laurens Advisory Board. “This will help us meet growing needs for affordable housing in Laurens County.”
Habitat Laurens chose to combine with Habitat Greenville because the Greenville County organization transitioned from a volunteer team to a mission-driven entity with a full-time CEO in 2009. Since hiring a CEO, Habitat Greenville has doubled the number of homes it has built each year, started doing renovations to existing homes, increased fundraising and has been honored numerous times for its dedication to creating affordable housing solutions.
