In March, we dedicated our first house to have both a rooftop solar array and a battery at move-in. (It’s our second solar home with a battery, but the first was installed after dedication.)

We’ve had wonderful outcomes from the solar setups on our Kinda Tiny Homes and on houses in peripheral lots of Micah’s Creek. (Infrastructure work is underway on Phase One of the main lot.) Adding batteries to the mix allows the home to retain limited electric power for essential circuits during outages. Residential solar systems without batteries have to be disabled when the grid is down so that electricity from the solar array isn’t being fed into the lines during repairs. With a battery, power from the home’s panels can be stored and used off-grid, which means the system doesn’t need to be totally shut down during an outage.

Working with the Bright Homes Energy Initiative and Infinite Energy Advisors on this project has been exciting and challenging — there is a learning curve! — but we’re all about challenges here at Athens Hab. So, onward and upward, y’all!

Our annual fund drive was a roaring success! Thanks to all our supporters, we were able to raise more than $116,000 over the holiday season!

We also had tremendous response to fundraising events earlier this year. In the spring, Targets ‘n’ Tiaras raised $25,000 for solarization at Micah’s Creek. And in the fall, Landmark Properties contributed $140,000 from its “Building Hope Through Homes” invitational golf tournament.

Looking forward, this April the Beta Theta Pi fraternity will be holding a pickleball fundraiser (our first!) to benefit Habitat, which we’re really looking forward to. Pickleball is even fun to say!

Looking back, in 2025 more than $50,000 came from individual donors making “small” donations. Which goes to show, it really is true that every contribution makes a difference! And of course, as we never get tired of saying, all of these gifts create the financial foundation that allows us to apply for matching and reimbursable grants which bring federal, state, and private funds into our community.

This month, we’re saluting Oconee Street United Methodist Church, a highly engaged congregation located just east of downtown. Volunteers from OSUMC have been working frequently at Habitat build sites and putting their shoulders to the wheel to create cost-manageable housing in our community.

In addition to their work with Habitat, congregants from OSUMC volunteer regularly with Our Daily Bread and are active in the areas of economic, environmental, and social justice. Inspired by Jesus’ words in The Gospel According to Matthew, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,” the church works with partners like The Ark and Georgia Interfaith Power & Light, while also putting energy into their own programs such as their Community Bail Initiative.

Having bounced back from a church fire in 2013, Oconee Street UMC knows a little something about rebuilding. And as longtime congregant Sally Curtis Askew puts it, “If churches were judged by the size of their hearts, [Oconee Street] would be one of the biggest congregations in United Methodism.” All we can say is, Amen to that, sister!

We love it when a plan comes together!

Athens Area Habitat has been working with Family Promise of Athens for the past few years to create more transitional housing where families can stay together in a safe, stable home while recovering from homelessness. For a while we’d been looking at a property on the west side of town and making preliminary plans, when we got a call from a family intrested in possibly contributing some land.

Long story short, that parcel turned out to be a stone’s throw from Family Promise’s new headquarters. And it’s large enough to provide for more beds than we’d anticipated. We’re still working out the details of what happens going forward, but it’s been a tremendous windfall for us, Family Promise, and the families they assist.

Working as a non-profit in the housing sector can be difficult, sometimes frustrating. At the same time, though, it can be very fulfilling work, and when the pieces fall into place just right, it’s a huge boost to everyone’s spirits!

Transitional housing is one of the trickier pieces of the housing puzzle. We’ve been honored to work side-by-side with organizations in that field, such as Family Promise and Lydia’s Place, to contribute what we can. Our goal is a community where everyone who needs transitional shelter has access to it, and where these temporary homes mesh with community standards, so that everyone’s dignity and needs are respected.

Things are different now. But we asked for it!

The Micah’s Creek project is, by far, the largest we’ve ever tackled. It’s our hope that it will help us transition into a new phase in which we can assist many more people per year than before. And by setting our sights higher, we’ve been able to attact several million dollars in federal and state grants to Athens for cost-manageable housing.

While more than 70% of predicted costs have been covered, we are still looking for individuals and organizations to sponsor remaining homes in Micah’s Creek as well as solar installations for the neighborhood. So far, our greatest response has been from groups pooling their resources to do more than anyone could do alone.

So if you’re a member of a business, congregation, professional organization, civic club, or other group who’s interested in being a part of this groundbreaking work (pun intended) get in touch and let’s talk!