Over the past school year select Youth Construction Academy students have been hard at work building two new homes in our service area.  We are proud to share they are complete, beautifully built, and will soon be filled with the laughter of children as the Shields and McInnes families move in next week!  The student participants from The Villages Charter School and Leesburg High started their home building projects in August with raw land and have worked alongside our Habitat construction manager as well as local sub-contractors to gain experience within the various trades of residential construction. This program is a shining example of Habitat’s mission of bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope.  A special THANK YOU to all of our sponsors and community supporters who helped make these projects a reality.   Check out the videos below to get a tour of the finished homes, meet the Habitat families, and join us in congratulating the students success!

[one-half-first]The Villages Charter Dedication Video [iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/LDvcLUz451w” mode=”normal” maxwidth=”500″] A special message from Walt Disney World Ambassadors [iframe id=”https://youtube.com/embed/U_em5_44SEQ” mode=”normal” maxwidth=”500″][/one-half-first]
[one-half]Leesburg High Dedication Video [iframe id=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/nfJLh5pQ-mY” mode=”normal” maxwidth=”500″][/one-half]

Exciting Plans for Next Year

Thanks to the generous support of Disney, Habitat Lake-Sumter was able to invest in securing a third school relationship for our Youth Construction Academy program.  We  are happy to announce that next year we will have three partner schools – Leesburg High, The Villages Charter High, and South Lake High!  As each school works to build their construction program, we are ready to grow with them and provide an opportunity for real life, on the job training, creating a bright outlook for their career.  Below are the locations of the 20-21 home building projects by school:

[one-third-first]The Villages Charter High
203 Anne St, Lady Lake[/one-third-first]
[one-third]Leesburg High
1501 Grove Ave, Leesburg[/one-third]
[one-third]South Lake High
Thomas St, Mascotte[/one-third]