The video records Habitat for Humanity’s 30‑hour, 30th‑anniversary build in Charlotte‑Mecklenburg County. Speakers—including Habitat staff, volunteers, the mayor, an El Salvador ambassador, and future homeowners—celebrate the expanded "30‑30‑30" initiative (originally 30 families in 30 days with 30 partners, now 120 partners serving 41 families). Kevin McCall explains the recycling warehouse and ReStore, noting 1,100‑1,200 appliances processed monthly, 10% resale, and 100 tons of scrap metal recycled, which funded 2.5 houses last year. The program emphasizes home‑repair work, which will serve more families than new construction. A LEED‑Platinum house—first in Mecklenburg County—is highlighted for its high‑efficiency design. Volunteers share personal reflections on service, community unity, and the non‑partisan nature of the work. International ties are noted through the El Salvador ambassador and a Nepalese family receiving a home. The event concludes with a key‑handing ceremony, celebration of homeowners who have paid off their mortgages, and acknowledgment of church and community partners.
Chapters
There's never been a community that made such a vivid and wonderful impression on Habitat volunteers as you have made here in Charlotte-Mecklenburg County. And I would predict that this is the first American community in the whole United States Well, Father, we thank you that we can be here this morning. We thank you for this ministry. We're up here helping building a house for Habitat for Humanity. They're actually going to build it in 30 hours because it's their 30th anniversary. I've been here for about an hour. We're doing lines to do the starter strips. Already started the sheetrock inside, and we're about to start doing the shingle work. So, pretty awesome. What you're going to see tomorrow when we're actually complete with this project is going to be some smiling faces, and that's reward for being out here all day. We started this as a 30-30-30, which is 30 families in 30 days with 30 community partners, and it's turned out to be 120 community partners serving 41 families in 30 days. Habitat doesn't just build things, we also tear things up. My name is Kevin McCall. I manage our recycling warehouse. We process about 1,100 to 1,200 appliances every month. About 10% of those work and we sell them in our ReStore. 90% or so, which accounts for about 100 tons of scrap metal per month, we recycle and we sell that to raise money as well. Last year we funded about 2.5 houses through this program. Pretty much nobody loses. Also, our volunteers, like you can see in the background, get a lot of their frustrations taken out. A lot of people think Habitat Charlotte just builds new homes, and that's a big misconception. We'll actually serve more families through the home repair program this year than actual new construction. A family is going to have a home at the end of 30 hours, and that's what it's all about. My name is Ruben Zamora, and I am the ambassador of El Salvador in Washington. There is a specific relationship between Charlotte and El Salvador through Habitat for Humanity project. They have been working in El Salvador since 1991. A shelter, a house, without that you are not a human being, properly speaking. Habitat for Humanity Charlotte is an extraordinary organization that, that puts families first. We've got arguably the best construction crew in the city of Charlotte. We came out here earlier this year, we hit some nails, we put up some walls. My team guys spent a lot of time out here and really enjoyed the time that they did. Yeah, I remember putting this wall in right here. It's just overall been a great experience. We've had a lot of fun and we've had, you know, a great time being able to come out and do some work, but yet most importantly see the happiness that it brings to the family and of course the community. Kyle, thank you, my friend. I appreciate it. I hope you win this weekend. In 30 hours, this is going to be a move-in-ready house. There'll be a family— this house will be dedicated to a family at 12 o'clock noon tomorrow. It actually feels great, honestly. Like I said, I've never done this before, but it's a great feeling. I'm like, oh man, to do the things that they did for me, and I sure appreciate it. We appreciate their time, effort, patience. We were sent out an email 3 weeks ago that this is the homeowner, and I just— it was just a name. But when I actually met him today and his face, he's just like, he's so overwhelmed by it, and you just feel like you've done such a good thing for such a nice person. We've had everybody get involved with homecoming, and it just tops it off tonight. This is the best thing to be a part of. I mean, my heart gets overwhelmed whenever I come out here, and I can remember my days 13 years ago building my own home. So one of the things that it makes me realize is that this is the beginning of someone's future. This is another Habitat house under construction, and it's not just any house. It is a LEED-certified This is going to be the first Platinum house built in Mecklenburg County, and so we're very proud of that. The house is going to be super efficient, very tight. We've beefed up the heating and cooling equipment. We've eliminated a lot of the carpet. It's all hard flooring so the dust and the dander can't build up in the house. Well, we're very excited that this house is LEED Platinum, and we're excited that Habitat approached us with this unique partnership because LEED Platinum is the Mac Daddy of greenhouses. There's LEED Certified, there's LEED Silver, and there's LEED Gold, but we're going all the way. This one's LEED Platinum. I'll grab all my bones and I'll build with my bare hands. It's such an accomplishment when you volunteer for something like this. I think it's a great way to show the community that you care. This is about the community. It's about doing the work that we're called to do, and that's to help others and to serve others. So Republican, Democrat, unaffiliated, All of that goes out the window. Today is about service. This is Mayor Patsy Kinsey. Hi, Mayor Kinsey. Nice to meet you. Thank you so much for coming out. Happy to be here. To actually say I helped put up these walls behind us and was out hammering and have the swollen thumb to prove it, this, this right here is going to go down as one of the best days ever for me. Thank you so much. This is a team project. We've got great partners. We've got 13 churches involved. This is our 15th year, Habitat's 30th year. It's a special time. I think for the churches, it's an opportunity to live out the things that we claim to believe. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! So we're doing this for a family from Nepal. And here's the keys to your new home. It's just a great opportunity to do something for the community, for a family, and I enjoy it a whole lot. This is my home, and I'm so excited about it because this This is incredible. I'm gonna plant my garden in front of it and I'm gonna decorate this home in my, like, best way. Today we are going through Reid Park and we're driving around like, uh, it's about a mile and a half and we're going to make a ruckus in the neighborhood. That is going to be the pinnacle right there, is just to see the homeowners just being paraded around because it's for them, but it's for the community, and it's such a great thing to be able to be a part of. We are here to celebrate 30 years of Habitat homeowners paying off their mortgage, and I'm one of them. Yay!
