Habitat for Humanity literally raises the roof for local families with Blitz Build project

THE WOODLANDS, TX – Billed as ‘4 Homes, 1 Week, 4 Families Transformed,’ Habitat for Humanity Montgomery County teamed up with LGI Homes and area trade partners in a grand collaboration to simultaneously build four homes in one week in the all-Habitat Cedar Creek Subdivision in Conroe. Halfway through the build, Woodlands Online was invited out to check on the progress and hear from the benefactors and soon-to-be homeowners alike.

Wayne Austion, president of the Habitat for Humanity board of directors, opened the festivities with words of welcome. “On behalf of the board of directors, it’s my pleasure to welcome everybody to this history day. We are indeed privileged to have this unique Blitzville going on behind us. I have a special thanks to LGI Homes, whose hard work and workers are making this possible,” he said.

Vicki Johnson, executive director of Habitat Montgomery County, was thrilled with the turnout and the state of the project. “I am in complete awe over what’s been happening here today. Four homes in five days. This project is incredibly significant and meaningful to us for several reasons. We understand having a decent and safe place to call home is absolutely everything. We understand that providing affordable housing to hard-working families is a ‘now’ issue. And Habitat plays an important role in fulfilling that mission.”

Program specialist Sofia Revert Sala was recognized for handling “millions of details for this project, and she’s done that with grace, kindness, compassion, and thoroughness.”

Chuck Collier, VP of construction for LGI Homes - Houston, was next at the podium. “We at LGI are extremely proud to be partnered with Habitat. This is a true, awesome event that we’re doing; it’s something that we haven’t done before, and we like challenges, and this fits right into our wheelhouse. And we couldn’t have done it without all of our trade partners,” he said.

Representatives from the offices of both State Senator Brandon Creighton and District 8 Congressional Representative Morgan Luttrell provided proclamations commemorating the event. The speeches concluded with heartfelt messages of thanks from two of the families who will be taking possession of their new homes very soon.

Debra Richmond, director of strategic partnerships for Habitat Montgomery County, discussed details about the project with Woodlands Online “This has been more than six months in the making. It started with an idea from other Habitats for Humanity across the country, and then LGI Homes got on board, joined the project, and it just took off from there. In November, we had our trade partner event where several general contractors became partners and joined in enthusiastically, then we set the date, got to planning, kept everyone informed, and here we are today,” she said “This is the first one we’ve done in Montgomery County. We chose the ‘blitz’ aspect because we were essentially playing catch-up from COVID when we couldn’t have volunteers on site, combined with supply chain issues that delayed things, and these families need their homes and they need them now. They’ve all done their 350 hours of sweat equity, they’re ready to close on their mortgages, so they’ll be ready to move in here in the next four to six weeks.”

The next event surrounding this project will be on March 4 when Habitat and LGI host a group home dedication followed by a ‘Blitz Build BBQ Celebration’ with the trade partners and Habitat families.