Civic group, church work together on Habitat house

Members of the North Spartanburg Rotary Club participated in a wall-raising celebration at a Habitat for Humanity house on West Centennial Street in Spartanburg Saturday morning.

Volunteers from Habitat for Humanity of Spartanburg, the North Spartanburg Rotary Club and Inman Baptist Church came together on Saturday to start construction on the 111th Habitat home in Spartanburg County.

The build was the product of a new partnership between Habitat for Humanity and the Rotary Club. Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Lee Close said the partnership with the Rotary Club started when Rotary Club President Ueli Schmid approached him in the hallway of their church, Inman Baptist Church.

Schmid said he wanted the organization to get involved with a project to give back to the community. The Rotary Club voted to sponsor the entire Habitat for Humanity house on its own.

I was completely blown away, Close said. It's a rare thing for a single organization to sponsor an entire Habitat House. We are enormously blessed to have this opportunity to work together.

Close said an overwhelming majority, 92 percent, of the Rotary Club's members voted in support of the project.

It's a big thing to have that support. It all comes down to folks wanting to help others, he said.

During a small ceremony before construction began, Schmid thanked volunteers from all three organizations that came out on a cold Saturday morning.

Milestones like this will be remembered, he said.

The house is one of many Habitat for Humanity has built on Centennial Street to help revitalize north Spartanburg. The development borders Spartanburg Medical Center's campus and is adjacent to Cleveland Park.

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Civic group, church work together on Habitat house