Rehabilitated home dedicated by Edisto Habitat for Humanity

Shawnta Bookard of Bowman was excited and grateful for the refurbished two-bathroom, four-bedroom home for her and three children. It is located at 1010 Kings Road in Orangeburg.

Edisto Habitat for Humanity and its many community partners converged upon the site Wednesday morning to dedicate the home as they continue to make the dream of home ownership come true.

“I want to thank Edisto Habitat community and God for providing a home for my family. This has been a wonderful journey of love and compassion,” Bookard said.

She said it has been wonderful to partner with people who gave of their time and talent “to make a better life for us.”

EHFH Executive Director Jessica Burgoyne said, “This is an updated home where we repurposed this home for a new family. We originally built this house and it came back into our program. We rehabilitated it with new floors, new appliances, new kitchen cabinets, new countertops and new fixtures. It’ll have new shudders, a new porch swing.”

She continued, “Sometimes homes come back into the program, and this one did. So we refurbished it. It came back into the program after foreclosure. It’s very rare that it happens, but that is what happened.”

EHFH broke ground on its 93rd newly constructed home for Orangeburg resident Brooke Thomas and her family on Sept. 28. The EHFH hopes to have Thomas in her newly constructed home before Christmas.

Burgoyne said the refurbished home for Bookard and her family suited their needs.

“She was perfectly happy with it being redone to the level that we’ve redone it for her. She was thrilled to death, and it also made us able to give her a home a lot faster. She has had the opportunity to meet some of the neighbors already. So it’s going to be a great environment. Everybody’s excited,” she said.

EHFH team builder Mike Holinko presented Bookard with a lamp he built as a housewarming gift, noting that it was the local housing ministry’s goal to make “a loving, warm and safe home for a homeowner and their family.”

Bookard said, “I’m excited. It’s a blessing that God gave me. … It’s nice for people to give of their time.”

C.F. Evans was presented with a 2022 Community Builder Award during the dedication ceremony. Kendall Perrow, human resources and recruiting supervisor at C.F. Evans, accepted the award.

“I think it just speaks to the roots we have in this community, where we began. We obviously build throughout the Carolinas, but being headquartered here, it means so much to be able to give back to this community,” Perrow said.

“We are a construction company. We do try to put together some teams to actively volunteer on these sites. We financially support as well. I think it’s important to give financially, but just as important, if not more, to really have that hands-on touch on the project,” she said

Perrow continued, “That hands-on is really important. We have a lot of great people at our company. When we can sort of reiterate to them what it means to be a part of the C.F. Evans family and do it in this way to provide for another family, I think that’s pretty remarkable.”

Burgoyne said, “We just want to build homes, build community. Together we get to transform lives in so many ways, and our program just keeps expanding with things that we offer. That’s the goal: to serve where we can, when we can.”

She continued, “We are thankful for the contributions of our many faithful supporters, including C.F. Evans, for helping making Shawnta Bookard’s dream of owning a simple, decent home a reality.

“We’re also grateful for all of our amazing and wonderful volunteers who willingly give of their time and their talent to help another local family have a home. Thank you to local businesses and churches for your continued support, as well.”