Nationwide Title Clearing (NTC) employees volunteered and helped build a house on Saturday, May 17th at the Habitat for Humanity building site in Clearwater. NTC was asked to attend on behalf of Bay Area Young Professionals. Attending on behalf of NTC were Natalie Aguirre, Michael Mazza, Brandy Chaplain and April O'Brien.
Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas County (HfHPC) builds homes with people in our community and sells the houses at no profit and no interest to households who otherwise could not afford to own a home. The program also prepares partner families to be successful homeowners.
Habitat for Humanity is a wonderful organization that helps give people hope by giving them a hand-up, not a hand-out. It is a common myth that Habitat gives away homes to the poor - that is completely inaccurate - all homeowners purchase the homes at 0% interest and are required to pay taxes, insurance, utilities, closing costs and payback the cost of the home. After a candidate has been accepted, they are required to begin their "sweat equity" - a single parent is responsible for completing a minimum of 250 volunteer hours with Habitat Pinellas. Couples are responsible for completing a minimum of 350 sweat equity hours. Homeowner candidates work in the office and on other families' homes, before starting their own home. This pay-it-forward concept is what makes HFH so successful and really establishes a sense of community pride.
