Lanterna Rally

Author: Wanda Urbanska

Publisher: John F. Blair, Publisher

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780895875686

While working in construction in the mid-2000s, Nancy Welsh observed what struck her as a strange phenomenon: well-built homes were being demolished left and right, based on their modest size or prime location, to make way for million-dollar dream homes and high-end commercial development. In 2006, she decided to do something about it¿she founded Builders of Hope. Builders of Hope rehabilitates urban housing using their Extreme Green rehabilitation product and then sells or rents the revitalized housing to low and moderate income families. In the process, the organization saves millions of pounds of construction materials from landfills annually; turns unwanted or undesirable homes into attractive, affordable, and energy-efficient housing; develops and revitalizes neighborhoods; and provides construction job training and mentoring for at-risk youth, ex-offenders, and the homeless. Funding comes from home sales, private donations, and grants. The Wall Street Journal stated that Builders of Hope¿s first community, Barrington Village in southeast Raleigh, ¿might be the most politically correct housing development on the planet. Builders of Hope continues to redevelop neighborhoods in Raleigh, Fuquay-Varina, Durham, Cary, and Charlotte and now reaches beyond North Carolina to New Orleans and Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. In Builders of Hope Wanda Urbanska chronicles the story of the organization, from inception to realization, while explaining exactly how the nonprofit works. Impressive before-and-after photographs and floor plans help show how Builders of Hope is different from other affordable housing organizations and how Nancy Welsh's original model of social entrepreneurism offers a timely, environmental, sustainable, and economic solution to rebuilding America. Published in celebration of Builders of Hope's five-year anniversary, proceeds from book sales will go toward funding the organization. Sustainability advocate Wanda Urbanska is the host-producer of Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska. The New York Times described Urbanska as "a spokeswoman for a phenomenon known as the simplicity movement," and O magazine called her "the de facto Martha Stewart of the voluntary simplicity movement." Wanda Urbanska is a graduate of Harvard University and has published widely in several national magazines and is the author of seven books, including Simple Living and Nothing's Too Small to Make a Difference. She is the "green and simple living" monthly blogger for the American Library Association's "@ your library" website. She makes her home in Raleigh, North Carolina. Nancy Welsh is the founder and CEO of Builders of Hope. She was recently selected by Governor Beverly Purdue to serve on the North Carolina Street Safe Task Force and has since been appointed as Chair of the Housing and Transportation subcommittee, a member of Urban Land Institute and the Homebuilders Association. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Welsh worked in advertising and development for Coca-Cola and Leo Burnett before finding her life-calling in the affordable housing sector. Welsh lives in Raleigh, North Carolina.