Atlanta Habitat welcomes three new homebuyers to the “family;” celebrates 25 years of building with Clark Howard

Atlanta Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors Chairman Darryl A. Hicks, President and CEO Lisa Y. Gordon, and nationally syndicated talk show host Clark Howard welcomed three new homebuyers to the Atlanta Habitat “family” at house dedication ceremonies; and celebrated 25 years of building together on Saturday, March 3, 2018.

For eight Saturdays, the first-time homebuyers worked alongside volunteers from house sponsor Team Clark Howard and longtime partners MailChimp, Coupon Mom and the Dan and Merrie Boone Foundation to build three houses located in the Orchard Knob community just southeast of downtown Atlanta.

Tregra Benjamin-Hoyte, whose four-year-old son calls her his favorite superhero because she helped to build their home, recalls her childhood days of watching Howard when he was a consumer reporter. “I grew up in a home; and I want the same foundation for my two sons,” she says. “I feel such strength and pride because of Clark.” Benjamin-Hoyte is an economic support specialist for the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services and has a bachelor’s degree in child and family development.

Also during the dedication ceremonies, first-time homebuyer and forklift driver Dwight Berry says he expects his new home to become a family legacy. “One of the joys of owning this home is I will get financial wealth and have something to leave my family; and I can carry on the legacy of hosting family barbeques like my mother did up until her passing last year.”

Araminta Snoddy joins Benjamin-Hoyte and Berry as adjacent neighbors and makes a return to the transforming community as a buyer instead of a renter. “I’m grateful for Clark Howard, and the time people put into helping me build my first home. I now have a place of my own to take care of my son and grandsons,” says Snoddy who works with developmentally disabled individuals.

The dedication ceremonies also included a salute to Howard for his 25th anniversary of building with Atlanta Habitat. Howard started as a volunteer with the nonprofit homebuilder in 1993 and in 1996 started sponsoring house-builds. He has built 64 houses alongside Atlanta Habitat families. House sponsorships help to cover the cost of materials and construction; this support helps to make the sales price affordable for working families.

It’s Atlanta Habitat’s mission that keeps Howard building with families in Atlanta. “When Atlanta Habitat builds in a neighborhood or starts repairing homes on the blocks where it builds, others follow because they know that neighborhood is changing for the good of everyone who lives there now and for families like Aramintra, Dwight and Tregra. I’m honored to now be a part of their lives,” says Howard.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jill Strickland Luse jill.stricklandluse@atlantahabitat.org or 404-822-0145