Bon Secours Wellness Arena and Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County are announcing a partnership to build a very special Habitat House in May 2019, with the first week of the build to take place onsite at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
“As you can imagine, there are still some logistics we’re working on with Habitat,” shares Matt Irwin, the Arena’s community engagement lead. “However, we are far enough along in the planning to know that it will happen and that we’ll be able to find the partners necessary to make this exciting idea a reality.”
Construction of the house will begin in the arena’s outdoor plaza along I-385, near the GSP International Airport Box Office and outdoor marquee – with the marquee being used to display facts and figures on the affordable housing issue in Greenville and to promote the sponsors/volunteers taking part in the build during the daily volunteer build sessions. At the end of the week, the public will be invited to a free concert at the arena to celebrate the effort before the house is moved to a permanent site within the City for completion.
“A build of this nature is not uncommon, especially if you’re familiar with Clemson’s annual build during Homecoming,” says Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County President and CEO Monroe Fee. “However, to my knowledge, this is the first build of this type to take place in Greenville. When Matt shared this idea with me, I was intrigued by the concept of starting a build in a prominent, unique location in order to spark a conversation about the issue of affordable housing within our greater community.”
Like every Habitat build, sponsors and volunteers will be needed to make this build successful. “We are actively seeking additional community sponsors at this time to defray the cost of construction,” shares Habitat Vice President of Development Barbara Martin. “We have already received our first significant gift, and it is our hope that other local companies will follow their example to be a part of this unique opportunity to bring awareness to this important issue.”
Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County and Loaves & Fishes are the inaugural “STAGE Partners” for the arena. STAGE, or Serving Together: Arena’s Giving Experience, is the new name for the Arena’s community outreach program that was announced in October. Since that time, the arena’s food service provider Centerplate has donated over 1,000 lbs. of excess food from events to Loaves & Fishes for distribution to their network of 98 agencies. “This build is the next step in our plan to impact our local community through our dynamic nonprofit partnerships as part of STAGE,” shares Matt Irwin.
More details will be released after December on the build, as well as the concert to cap the week of in May. For sponsorship inquiries, please reach out to Barbara Martin at Habitat for Humanity or Matt Irwin at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.