Insights & Information

Giving military heroes a place to call home

David Sandel Sr., Mark Brown and Harold Simcox at Homes 4 Our Heroes site

A Triad Baptist Church ministry helped Winston-Salem end homelessness for military veterans.

Volunteers from Nehemiah's Few helped restore five brick row homes on Cameron Avenue in Winston-Salem as housing for homeless vets.

Three of the historic brick buildings in the city’s Southeastern Ward have already been converted into duplex apartments and are occupied. A fourth is nearing completion, and the fifth and final duplex could open in late December.

“The people who made this day possible include Nehemiah’s Few who came from Kernersville and who started this project,” Rev. Kenneth Holly, director of operations and community relations for Whole Man Ministries, told a Veterans Day crowd marking the end of the “Homes 4 Our Heroes” project.

The ministry bought the five vacant and run-down structures in 2012 to transform them into affordable housing for veterans. Since then, more than 60 businesses, 2,000 community volunteers, and $500,000 has gone into the revitalization.

Pastor Barry Washington, executive director of Whole Man Ministries, said the vision for the project came from seeing local veterans without homes.

Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines said that the new units — along with other housing created by Samaritan Ministries, the Bethesda Center and other city groups — allowed the city to certify to the federal government that it had ended veteran homelessness and meet a goal President Barack Obama had set for the nation.

“It’s a great revival of the neighborhood and a revival of lives,” Joines said of Homes 4 Our Heroes.

Nehemiah’s Few joined the Home Depot Foundation, Lowe’s Cos. Inc., the Forsyth Technical Community College carpentry program, and Gwyn Electrical, Plumbing, Heating and Cooling to work on the project.

“The Nehemiah’s Few team has worked on the Homes 4 Our Heroes project since the beginning, providing more than 600 hours of labor to work on three of the five duplexes,” said Harold Simcox, who leads Nehemiah’s Few.

“I met Pastor Washington doing a project at their church an Old Lexington Road in Winston-Salem, and he called on us to help on the project. We were one of the first crews in,” Simcox said. “I’m thankful for the opportunity to help. God has blessed me with some abilities to participate in this endeavor and, as an Army vet myself, it’s a special calling to help build homes for these heroes. I thank God for the time, resources, and talents He has given me, and I want to use them in a meaningful way to honor Him by loving others.”

The Nehemiah’s Few ministry began in 2003 to help a church member get power restored in her darkened house on Thanksgiving day. Four hundred and seventy three volunteers and 3,249 projects later, Nehemiah’s Few has shared the light and love of Christ in Kernersville and beyond.

“We are grateful to Triad Baptist Church for partnering with us through Nehemiah’s Few,” said Washington, whose ministry also includes a non-denominational church, clothing closet, food pantry, food pantry, elderly ministry, prison ministry, youth ministry, homeless ministry, and community center.

“You are making a difference in the community as a church that reaches beyond its own walls to help others.”

 

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Phase 2 Shot of TBC B&W 17

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