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The good news is that Piedmont Habitat for Humanity is one step closer to starting construction on their Charlotte County project. It’ll just take a bit more time for that to happen.

In February 2022, the Piedmont Habitat for Humanity was awarded a grant in the amount of $946,149 through the Commonwealth Regional Council (CRC) Affordable Workforce Housing Grant. This funding is to be used to build 11 new homes with four in Prince Edward County, three in Nottoway County and five in Charlotte County through June 30, 2025. Originally, the deadline was for June 2024, but it got extended earlier this year.  

The first batch of four is almost ready in nearby Farmville. The new homes on Andrews Drive and Parkview Drive finished with construction wrapping up by the end of summer. One certificate of occupancy was issued in June, with the remaining three going out in August. 

Now, a few of the final details are still getting taken care of, including paving the driveways. The last step is waiting to receive the final closing documents back from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development. Through this partnership, the USDA is providing Single Family Housing Direct Home Loans for these homeowners to provide a more affordable mortgage payment. 

“At this point, there are only a few details for the families can close and then they can move in,” said Sam Rabon, the director of resource development and marketing with Piedmont Habitat for Humanity. “It’s in the USDA’s hand right now, but we expect to receive the documents very soon.”

First Nottoway, then Charlotte County

While everything is getting finalized in Farmville, Habitat is moving forward with the three homes in Nottoway County. Located in Crewe, construction is still taking place and is about 75% finished. To finish up the grant funding, the last five homes will start construction in Keysville in Charlotte County. Construction for these is expected to start in the spring and the homeowners in Charlotte are already working on the preliminary process. 

“These builds have taken a little longer than we would have originally anticipated,” Rabon said, ” as there has been a learning curve in moving from one home built at a time to multiple projects happening at once.”

A typical build for a home from the ground up can take four to six months to complete. That’s where Cardinal Homes comes in. The Charlotte County based company is building modular homes for the nonprofit, prefabricated buildings that come in sections. Even though they come prebuilt, the quality is the same as a normal Habitat build. 

“They are great houses,” said Rabon. “We are very happy to have this partnership and it allows us to do more faster. We can serve more families in the same amount of time and serving families is what it’s all about.”

Piedmont Habitat gets help in rebuild

A large part of Habitat for Humanity is the opportunity for volunteers and the homeowner to participate in the build to help keep the cost down. Even though the homes come prebuilt, there are plenty of opportunities as the modular homes come around 80 to 90% finished with site prep, installing flooring, cabinets, porches, finish work and landscaping to do.