MOUNT VERNON – Terry Schultz, Habitat for Humanity of Knox County’s new affiliate director, already has two lots to start building homes as the organization works with local residents to “give a hand up, not a handout.”
In partnership with the Knox County Land Bank, Habitat just closed on two lots in Mount Vernon that will be sites for Habitat home builds in 2022 and 2023.
“Having land, especially here in Mount Vernon city limits, is going to be a great opportunity for us to be visible in the community that the ReStore calls home,” Schultz said.
He wants to make sure Habitat (hfhknoxoh.org) has a large impact on the communities of Knox County.
“I would love to get to the point where we always have a project going on, whether it’s a new build or rehab or a smaller Brush with Kindness-type project,” Schultz said.
Habitat is finalizing plans for its Brush with Kindness program later this year. These smaller, more minor home repairs might involve energy upgrades, door or window replacements, siding or be as small as landscaping projects. The project helps the homeowner take pride in their home, and that often spurs neighbors to work on their own homes.
Schultz said he is working with ReStore manager Keith Hughes to increase its hours.
“We realized the ReStore is kind of the face for Habitat for Humanity in the Mount Vernon area as well as the surrounding community,” he said.
Habitat partnered with the Board of Developmental Disabilities in a 5K race last year that turned into a virtual event. They will take over running the fundraiser this year, with both virtual and, hopefully, in-person options, Schultz noted.
Schultz said he loved the mission of Habitat when he started volunteering in high school, and he got to know it better in college. While he attended graduate school, his wife, Tiffany Priest, worked with AmeriCorps to help a Habitat affiliate north of Lexington, Kentucky.
When they returned from serving in the Peace Corps in Albania, Schultz applied for a job to help the Marion, Ohio, Habitat affiliate open its own ReStore.
“I wanted to do something to benefit the community, to work in a ministry that wasn’t necessarily tied directly to a church, but Habitat for Humanity is a great ministry and the programs that we do are fantastic,” he said.
The couple now lives in Pickerington, but through drives to visit family in Cleveland they’ve become familiar with the beauty of the Knox County area.
