Giles Building Technology Students finish 8th Habitat House

On Wednesday, August 10, Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley will be moving a home constructed by Giles Technical Center students from the GTC campus to 609 Henry Avenue in Pulaski, Virginia. Stanley Mobile Home Moving, Inc. will provide the service. This house is the eighth built by the Building Technology students in partnership with HFHNRV. Habitat supplies materials, and once the students complete their portion of the build, HFHNRV moves the house to a property where it will become an affordable home for a hardworking family.

“The Building Tech students from the Giles County Technology Center gain a practical and hands-on experience from building homes for Habitat for Humanity of the NRV. They consider it an honor and privilege to be a small part of such a life-changing organization. The Giles County Technology Center Building Tech program looks forward to many more years of building Habitat homes,” says Jimmy McCroskey, Program Educator.

Movers will load the first half of the structure at Giles Tech Center located at 1827 Wenonah Avenue in Pearisburg on the morning of August 10th. They will make their way down Route 100 from Giles County to Dublin and take Route 11 into downtown Pulaski. This process will then be repeated with the second half of the structure.

Once the home is placed, Habitat of the NRV will enlist the assistance of students from the Pulaski County Area Tech Center along with volunteers from the T.G. Howard Community Center to complete construction prior to the sale of the home. Applications for qualifying families are currently being accepted. Visit habitatnrv.org/homebuyer for more information.

Habitat of the NRV has been working closely with Megan Atkinson, the Director of Career and Technical Education and STEM Academy at Pulaski County Public Schools and is looking forward to a new partnership with the Pulaski County Area Technology Center (ATC) for construction of a second Pulaski County home to take place during the upcoming 2022-2023 school year.

About Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley:

Habitat for Humanity of the New River Valley serves Montgomery, Giles, Floyd and Pulaski counties and Radford City. It is part of a global, nonprofit housing organization operated on Christian principles that seeks to put God’s love into action by eliminating substandard housing locally and worldwide through constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes; by advocating for fair and just housing policies; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. Habitat for Humanity was founded on the conviction that every man, woman, and child should have a simple, durable place to live in dignity and safety, and that decent shelter in decent communities should be a matter of conscience and action for all.

All are welcome to help with the work, regardless of race, religion, age, gender, political views or any of the other distinctions that too often divide people. Habitat welcomes volunteers and supporters from all backgrounds and serves people in need regardless of race or religion. As a matter of policy, Habitat for Humanity International and its affiliated organizations do not proselytize; Habitat does not offer assistance on the expressed or implied condition that people must either adhere to or convert to a particular faith or listen and respond to messaging designed to induce conversion to a particular faith.

About the Giles County Building Technology Program

Building Technology is a two-year program for students in 11th and 12th grade. Students earn three high school credits first year and four high school credits the second year. The Building Technology program provides training in the building and repair of homes including excavation work, laying block, carpentry, electrical wiring, and plumbing. Students gain hands on experience through the modular home building project and through senior internships with local contractors. Giles County students have a great partnership with New River Valley Habitat for Humanity that allows students to build a modular home at the Tech Center during their senior year.

About T.G. Howard Community Center

The T.G. Howard Community Center was founded in 1965 and is one of the last strong connections to the African American community in Pulaski Virginia. The center has held countless programs, activities, services and events through the decades. The T.G. Howard is currently on a grass roots revitalization mission to raise funds to restore the facility as board members work to create an active Youth Development Program for the center.