Hope Homes Purpose and Mission:

“Through God’s Grace, Hope Homes has been established to provide housing to those in need of shelter who otherwise can not provide it for themselves. We have been charged by God to provide a firm foundation, build walls of Faith, and cover it with God’s Love.

This not only will provide our neighbors in need with a good house, but will give them a home…a home filled with Hope"

An article about Hope Homes:

Engaging Rural Churches in Service Behind each door is a story. A man was living in a camper. Another was sleeping on a relative’s floor. A woman and her granddaughter were in a mobile home with a leaky roof. Their lives changed for the better thanks to Hope Homes, a nonprofit in Davie County, North Carolina, that builds new houses for neighbors in need. Established by Bethlehem Methodist Church in rural Advance, it has expanded to include teams of volunteers from more than a dozen churches in the county. Since 2007, $340,000 in grants to Bethlehem from The Duke Endowment has helped Hope Homes build 13 houses, including two in 2013. It’s one example of how the Endowment’s Rural Church program area is addressing a critical need in North Carolina, and creating opportunities for churches to engage in outreach. Other grants have supported multi- family housing or expanded housing repair ministries. “The first person we built a house for told us, ‘You think you built me a house, but you gave me a home. Because you gave me a home, you’ve given me hope.’ And that’s how we got our name,” says Jim Stockert, Hope Homes’ volunteer leader. “Our mission is to provide housing for people who can’t provide it for themselves.” Using a mix of public funds and private donations, Hope Homes builds one-, two- and three-bedroom houses. Volunteers do much of the labor; they even fill the rooms with furniture and stock the pantry with food. “We tell people that all they need to bring is their clothes and themselves,” Stockert says. “By providing these families with suitable housing without a mortgage, we know that the limited resources they currently have can be better used to help improve their way of life.” Hope Homes has the capacity to build one or two houses a year; the organization receives applications from as many as five families each time it launches a project. For most, it will be the boost they need for a fresh start. “I had lost everything,” says one woman. “Moving into this house gave me another chance, a way to see past a very hard time. It was like a door had opened to heaven.” RURAL CHURCH: Developing rural United Methodist churches, supporting their clergy and lay leaders and expanding church outreach across North Carolina. - See more at: http://annualreport.dukeendowment.org/2013/#sthash.O0mts2uM.dpuf