The Harvest Foundation continues to invest in local efforts to improve housing with a recent three-year, $200,000 investment to the Fuller Center for Housing of Martinsville-Henry County to support the Home Builds & Repairs initiative.
According to the West Piedmont Planning District Commission’s 2024 Housing Study, Martinsville has some of the oldest housing stock in the region, with almost half of the city’s housing built prior to 1960. The age of housing in Henry County is distributed relatively consistently between units built prior to 1959 and 2000, with a drop after 2000.
With this investment, the Fuller Center plans to construct several new homes for local families and provide critical home repairs to at least five limited-income homeowners per year, until the allotted funds are exhausted. The program offers families an opportunity to escape substandard housing and achieve stability through homeownership or home preservation efforts.
“Access to safe, affordable housing is a foundation for a thriving community,” said DeWitt House, vice president of community investments at The Harvest Foundation. “Investing in home ownership creates pathways for families to build generational wealth and envision a brighter future. Harvest’s partnership with Fuller Center further advances our mission for Martinsville-Henry County to be a community where everyone can thrive, and where families have the security to focus on education, health, and opportunity.”
Since its founding in 1988, first as Habitat for Humanity and now as Fuller Center, the organization has built 40 homes in Martinsville-Henry County and provided support to dozens of families through its Greater Blessing repair program. In 2024 alone, the Fuller Center replaced a leaking roof and installed a new water heater for a homeowner in need.
The Greater Blessing Program is designed to help limited-income homeowners, often aging adults or people living with a disability, complete urgent repairs that may otherwise go unaddressed. The program is based on the principle of community reciprocity. While there are no formal loan documents, participants are contracted to repay costs over time, at an affordable rate. Those funds are then reinvested to help other families.
The Fuller Center also offers affordable homeownership with 0% interest, no-profit mortgages, making monthly payments significantly lower than the average rent in the area. With HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) estimating the fair market rent for a 3-bedroom home in the region at over $1,000, the center’s lower-than-average mortgage payments open new pathways to economic security for working families.
“The Fuller Center for Housing is grateful for the Harvest Foundation’s commitment to Martinsville-Henry County and for their efforts to address the critical needs of those in our community,” said Beth Stinnett, executive director of the Fuller Center for Housing of MHC. “Affordable housing is a pressing issue nationwide and can be especially crippling in small, rural communities such as ours. With the support of The Harvest Foundation, we can offer more families the stability of homeownership and positively impact the trajectory of the futures of those families.”
Construction on the new homes in Martinsville is set to begin this year. The Fuller Center encourages community members, volunteers, and local businesses to get involved.
Fuller Center’s housing work is part of a larger community push toward investments in stable and affordable housing. The WPPDC is one of many partners, including the City of Martinsville and Henry County, that are dedicated to this work.
“Partnering with the Harvest Foundation and the Fuller Center is vital to our mission of providing safe and affordable housing,” said Sean Campbell, deputy director of the WPPDC. “Together, we are committed to creating sustainable solutions that enhance the quality of life for our residents and strengthen our community. We look forward to working with our partners on future projects that will further benefit our region.”
For more information about the Fuller Center’s programs or how to support their work, visit fullercenter.org/martinsville-henry or search Fuller Center for Housing of Martinsville and Henry County on Facebook.
