SAN ANGELO, Texas — As many businesses and nonprofits in the Concho Valley are beginning to see a little relief with the COVID-19 pandemic slowly winding down, a return to normalcy is still a long way off for Habitat for Humanity.
Around the time plans were being made to roll out vaccines, a lumber shortage was becoming more and more apparent, causing prices to skyrocket and leaving Habitat a whole new set of problems in addition to the damage the pandemic had already caused.
“It really became pretty apparent about six months ago that prices were beginning to increase significantly,” San Angelo Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Pam Hammer said. “More people started coming in here looking for lumber. A lot of people donate to us and we started having an influx of people looking for lumber.”
Lumber hasn’t been the only essential item with increasing prices, either.
“A lot of things are going up right now. HVAC, electricians, concrete, sheetrock. That’s hard,” Hammer said.
She said the organization has seen donations slow down recently, as well.
“Cabinets, doors, windows, toilets, sinks, flooring, insulation, those things are what people are in need of the most.”
The news isn’t all bad, though. Hammer said Habitat does have a couple of fundraisers being set up for this summer and can take pride in some of the organization’s hard work come to fruition recently.
“We started in San Angelo in 1996. We’ve built over 75 homes. Here’s the good news: this year alone we’ve had eight families pay off their homes. What a blessing that is for eight families to be able to pay off their homes and now they’re homeowners. We just had one family who raised their kids in a Habitat home and all three of their kids have gone to college. They may not have had that opportunity had it not been for Habitat, so we want to thank the city of San Angelo and our surrounding neighbors for supporting us.”
Habitat for Humanity of San Angelo is a locally-run affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, which has built more than 1,500,000 homes worldwide for income-eligible families in need.
For more information about San Angelo Habitat for Humanity, call 325-655-7535, or visit the Habitat ReStore at 401 N. Chadbourne St., to browse or make a donation.
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