VGCC Carpentry program and Granville County Habitat partner to finish house

Students in the Carpentry program at Vance-Granville Community College recently started work on their second project in partnership with Granville County Habitat for Humanity. The first construction project was a home in Oxford that students helped build from start to finish, leading to its dedication in January . This time, students will be completing a home in Henderson.

The home’s construction began several years ago under the auspices of the Vance County affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. Later, that local affiliate disbanded, and the international organization asked Granville County Habitat for Humanity to complete its projects, including this house.

VGCC Carpentry program head Keith Tunstall is also a Granville County Habitat for Humanity board member. “Our continuing partnership provides practical training for our Carpentry students, as well as an opportunity for ‘service learning’ that will improve the life of a local family,” Tunstall said. The Carpentry program is part of VGCC’s chapter of SkillsUSA alongside other programs in the college’s Business and Applied Technologies division. SkillsUSA promotes opportunities for community service while developing a skilled workforce.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, ecumenical Christian ministry founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a decent, safe and affordable place to live. The Granville County organization is one of more than 1,500 local affiliates in the United States. Habitat has helped to build or repair more than 800,000 houses and served more than four million people worldwide.

The Habitat home in progress, on Booker Street in Henderson, has three bedrooms. Tunstall said he expects the work to be completed during the fall 2016 semester, which begins in August. New students can enroll now to begin either on May 23 (summer term) or in August.

For more information on VGCC’s Carpentry program , call Keith Tunstall at (252) 738-3261 or (252) 213-1266.

 

Above:  VGCC Carpentry students Mycal Elam of Warrenton and Robyn Horner of Durham work on the back of a house in Henderson that is being completed in partnership with Granville County Habitat for Humanity. (VGCC photo)

More photos: Check out our album on Flickr (which will be updated with new photos as construction progresses)