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Perfect partnership


Last updated May 16, 2017

By News administrator

On March 8, 2017, Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County lauded Furman’s Shi Center for Sustainability as their first Organizational Donor of the Year. The award recognizes the work Furman’s Community Conservation Corps (CCC) did weatherizing and repairing homes for Habitat Greenville in 2016. Accepting the accolade for the Shi Center at a special awards breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Greenville hotel was Kelly Grant Purvis, associate director of sustainability programs. The award, which was initiated by Habitat for Humanity this year, will be an ongoing annual honor.

The CCC, formed as an AmeriCorps program in 2011 and hosted by Furman’s David E. Shi Center for Sustainability, partnered with Habitat Greenville to weatherize a total of 13 homes in 2016. The group launched its partnership with Habitat for Humanity in 2013, when Furman was seeking opportunities to recruit a bigger pool of volunteers beyond students, and Habitat for Humanity was looking to expand their reach from building new homes into repair and weatherization work.

To select the recipient of this award, the Habitat Greenville development team reviewed the list of its top 25 donors. “We narrowed this group to five whose funding had the greatest measureable impact on the organization and presented those to the Habitat Greenville leadership,” reports Anne-Marie Ritts, Communications & Stewardship Manager for Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County.

“Furman University’s Shi Center for Sustainability’s Community Conservation Corps weatherization program, conducted in collaboration with Habitat Greenville, has provided an additional way for Habitat Greenville to further our mission,” says Monroe Free, president and CEO of Habitat Greenville. “Working with the Shi Center for Sustainability to assist homeowners with low incomes carry out improvements that enhance the safety and energy-efficiency of their homes has been very rewarding. Because of their contributions to the Habitat mission, Furman’s Shi Center for Sustainability was a natural selection for our first Donor of the Year award. It is our pleasure to collaborate with the Shi Center for the benefit of homeowners in need in our community.”

“It’s wonderful to be recognized for the work that Furman has done with Habitat for Humanity,” echoes Kelly Grant Purvis, “and this award is a way to highlight our successful partnership. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity is great because it reiterates our community ties and allows us to help more people than we could on our own working with private contractors.”

 

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