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Highlands Today

Habitat Acquires Local Rebuilding Together

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Special to Highlands Today

Published: December 26, 2008

SEBRING - Habitat for Humanity's Highlands County operation announced that it will acquire the assets of Rebuilding Together Highlands County Inc., a move described by both of the organizations' chief executives as a logical merger of the two corporate missions.

Habitat's principal mission is to build new homes for the needy, the elderly and disabled persons, while Rebuilding Together is focused on the rehabilitation of existing homes that require work that is normally unaffordable for the occupants.

Habitat's new rehabilitation division will be named "ReHabitat," and will capitalize on the expertise and volunteer workforce Rebuilding Together has developed in recent years.

Mike Jacobson, Habitat executive director said, "A vital and often overlooked part of a housing strategy is an effort to restore existing homes to an acceptable level of comfort, safety, and economic efficiency; so it was logical for us to extend our services to rehabilitating certain homes in the community. Since Rebuilding Together has a great track record in this area it seemed sensible to join forces and take advantage of their expertise."

Paul Devlin, president of the local Rebuilding Together affiliate, said, "This is an efficient merger of two volunteer organizations whose services were beginning to overlap. For a small area like Highlands County it was wise to join forces and become more streamlined. The economies of scale and the talent-sharing potentials are obvious."

The merger will be effective Jan. 1. Questions regarding Rebuilding Together's work-in-progress, or requests for future home rehabilitation assistance should be directed to John Hawthorne, Habitat's chief operating officer, at 863-385-7156.

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