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alumna and president and CEO of Atlanta Habitat for Humanity for more than 15 years. “Working with Atlanta Habitat provides us all a special opportunity to help fami-lies help themselves … I am most proud of the hundreds of families who have made a decision to provide a better life for their children through our program.” Atlanta Habitat, founded in 1983 as a nonprofit hous-ing organization, has built or renovated more than 1,200 environmentally friendly houses in the metropolitan Atlanta area. The organi-zation depends on charitable sup-port — more than 14,000 volunteers, donors and sponsors last year alone — but homeowners must also con-tribute 250 sweat-equity hours helping build their homes and those of other families. Atlanta Habitat provides and services no-interest loans, and home-buyers pay a monthly mortgage of less than $600. They also enter a one-year lease before closing on their homes. During this year, they attend “Home Smart,” the Atlanta Habitat education program, and satisfy sweat-equity re-quirements as they transition from renters to homeowners. “Our program at Atlanta Habitat is about much more than building a house with those families; it is about creat-ing successful homeowners,” Larrie Del says. “We require a minimum of 12 education classes that include important information from financial to maintenance to community involvement.” As president and CEO, Larrie Del says, “I wear many different hats during the day, depending on the focus.” She works Monday through Saturday meeting with staff and donors, visiting sites and keeping up with paper work. She spearheaded two capital campaigns that raised $9.75 mil-lion, providing a land bank for building future homes and funding to endow faith-based builds. She manages an annual budget of $8.2 million and oversees the work in a 95,000-square-foot facility that houses Atlanta Habitat’s offices, education area, warehouse and ReStore, a discount retail store for home-improvement items. “One of my last major goals at our organization,” Larrie Del says, “is creating a future, permanent home for our mission — just down the street from our present, leased facility.” Atlanta Habitat has consistently held a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, demonstrating the highest level of fiscal responsibility. Larrie Del also has received numerous honors, including the 2004 John H. Allen Humanitarian Award from Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters, the YWCA 2007 Academy of Women Achiev-ers and Business to Business 2011 Women of Excellence. Progressive Redevelopment Inc. recognized her as a “Hous-ing Hero” in its 2010 history of Atlanta’s affordable hous-ing. Larrie Del credits Kappa Delta for providing her with the opportunity at Rhodes to participate in many activities, assume leadership roles and “get to know wonderful people from a variety of backgrounds and to appreciate both similarities and differences.” She encourages collegians who are interested in careers in the nonprofit sector to volunteer often and with different types of organizations to get a feel for their cultures and missions. She says, “The nonprofit world needs capable young folks!” Christy Zeitz Eaton, Executive Director, HomeAid Northern Virginia, homeaidnova.org Before Christy Zeitz Eaton, Beta Phi-West Virginia, started work four years ago for HomeAid Northern Virginia, she says the word ‘homeless’ meant to her “the guy on the street corner in tat-tered clothes begging for money.” And then she saw the effect of 2008’s economic crash. “I’ve since learned that the homeless community is much broader, and that man, while homeless and in need of assistance, represents a very small portion of today’s home-less,” Christy says. The typical homeless person today is em-ployed and part of a family that includes several children. “In Northern Virginia, the estimated 5,000 homeless people are working minimum-wage jobs that do not allow them the income they need to live in this metropolitan area. The lack of affordable housing is a major factor in people becoming homeless.” HomeAid Northern Virginia works directly with shelter organizations and home builders to lead construction and renovation on homeless shelters or transitional housing owned/operated by the shelter organizations. Christy’s job is to match a partner builder with a shelter project, finding the right fit so that the project will move forward smoothly. “HomeAid is here to help the shelter make good decisions and help the builder understand the needs of the shelter so kappadelta.org Summer 2012 | 49
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