Sussex County Habitat for Humanity and DryZone, happy and healthy partners in building a better community

  DryZone has had a great relationship for several years with Sussex County Habitat for Humanity. We are always happy to help them out with various projects whether it is a basement remodeling project, wet and musty crawlspace repair, or some kind of foundation fix.

Recently, our company owner Bill Anderson was appointed to the Board of Directors for Sussex County Habitat. This is a huge honor, and Bill was excited and happy to accept the appointment. While Bill handles the executive-style duties, Brad Wazlavek will take on a larger role in the build projects and fundraisers for this wonderful organization.

We take pride in all the projects we've contributed to and cherish the opportunity to give back to the community.  We have installed GeoLock Wall Anchors in a cracked and bowing basement wall in Lincoln, DE, and repaired a crawl space in Ocean Pines, MD.

Our involvement also extends to the fundraising end of things.  We have helped organize several fundraisers in order to help out the non-profit financially.

Right after this appointment, we attended the first meeting for a very exciting new project, the Veteran’s Build. Habitat for Humanity has decided to dedicate one specific project to a veteran in need. The build will involve veterans on the build teams, in the fundraisers, and finally with the home being dedicated to area veterans who helped and contributed their time and efforts to the build. The house will be in Georgetown, DE in a community called Georgetown Point.

There are several misconceptions about Habitat for Humanity and two in particular that almost everyone thinks of as fact. The first is that they give houses away for free; this is not true at all. Habitat aims to give a helping hand, not a hand out. Habitat is about more than just building homes; they build relationships and communities as well.

The requirements for home ownership through Habitat for Humanity are pretty simple. First, they must have a need for affordable and proper housing. This means someone who may live in an overcrowded or run-down home and has no means to get up and out. Secondly, they must have the ability to repay a mortgage. Habitat builds the homes and then sets the new homeowner up with a 0% interest loan, but they still make regular payments. This is designed to instill a feeling of self-worth and empowerment to the new homeowner which carries into other parts of life. The last requirement is the willingness to partner. Each adult in the household is asked to donate 250 hours of their time to something called “sweat equity.” It doesn’t necessarily mean swinging a hammer and hauling lumber, they just want to make sure everyone helps each other and contributes to building a cohesive community.

The second major misconception that people have is a little silly, but still worth mentioning as just a general knowledge point. Most people believe that Jimmy Carter created Habitat for Humanity. This is false. The non-profit was founded in 1976 by Millard Fuller and his wife, Linda. The people of Habitat consider President Carter their most famous volunteer.

If you have ever wanted to participate in any way, now is the time. If you live or work anywhere in Sussex County and want to give back to the community, please contact Sussex County Habitat for Humanity via their website www.sussexcountyhabitat.org and no that any help you can offer is greatly appreciated.