About Us
Habitat for Humanity has continued to be blessed with
generous volunteers and businesses. Consequently, we have been able
to complete 2 houses about every 16 months since early 2004.
Our Vision
Habitat for Humanity, Pickens County is dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally by constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes; and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their home conditions.
Our commitment is to reduce substandard housing in Pickens County.
Habitat for Humanity was founded on the conviction that every man, woman and child should have a simple, durable place to live in dignity and safety and that decent shelter in decent communities should be a matter of conscience and action for all.
"For a community to be whole and healthy, it must be based on people's love and concern for each other."
-Millard Fuller, Founder of Habitat for Humanity
Habitat for Humanity-Pickens County (HFH-PC) technically became an official HFH affiliate in the mid-1980’s as part of the original North Central Georgia HFH (NCG-HFH). NOTE: that name is now used by another combo affiliate. That original charter serviced Gilmer, Fannin, and Pickens Counties, GA. They built 2 houses in Gilmer county and then became dormant. The affiliate was re-energized to some extent in the early 1990’s and built another house in Fannin County, completed in 1999 or 2000, but once again it was becoming dormant. It was again re-energized by 3 or 4 new volunteers in late 2000. The principal “movers and shakers” for this rebirth were Sharon Bush, Stan Barnett, Kay Paterson (now Lawrence) and Ellie Simon.
North Central Ga. HFH held an open house at the Pickens County Chamber Building in October 2001. The purpose of this meeting was to generate more local interest and support for HFH. This meeting marked the real beginning of our current affiliate. We publicized HFH in a big way, recruited volunteers, asked for donations, and promised to build a house in Pickens county as soon as we could make it happen.
Prompted by the overwhelming community support shown at the October 2001 meeting at the Pickens Chamber, the NCG-HFHBoard of Directors (at their December 2001 meeting) voted unanimously to split NCG-HFH into a “Pickens County Affiliate” and a separate “Fannin/Gilmer Counties Affiliate.” Because Pickens had most of the money and all of the momentum, it was recommended that Pickens would keep the existing charter and that Gilmer & Fannin counties would form a new affiliate.
In the interim, a new Pickens County HFH Steering Committee, headed by Stan Barnett, was created to organize and set up operations of the new Pickens County affiliate. The petition toHabitat International was subsequently approved, and HFH-PC as we know it today became official. By an amendment to the corporate charter (effective April 4, 2002) North Central Georgia Habitat for Humanity became Habitat for Humanity-Pickens County, Inc. Subsequently, on February 12,2002 Habitat International changed our name to HFH-PC and chartered us to serve a single county (Pickens County).