Global Village: Asheville 2025

In mid-October 2025, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati traveled down to Asheville, North Carolina, to build with Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity (AAHH) for one week!

Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity

Founded in 1983, Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity was the first Habitat affiliate in North Carolina. As of 2025, AAHH has built more than 400 new homes and completed more than 500 home repair projects, impacting the lives of more than 2,200 people across its service areas in Buncombe and Madison Counties.

We partnered with Habitat Asheville in response to the effects of Hurricane Helene, which devastated Asheville and Western North Carolina in September 2024. Helene hit the city of Asheville particularly hard, bringing torrential rainfall that caused the worst flooding seen in more than 100 years in the region. In Buncombe County alone, where Asheville is located, more than 9,000 homes were severely damaged​, more than 300 homes completely destroyed​, and approximately 12,000 residents were displaced​.

Located along the flooded Swannanoa River, AAHH’s Admin Building and Meadow Rd. ReStore were hit hard and sustained significant damage. Fortunately, the Weaverville ReStore remained unscathed, and of the nearly 400 AAHH houses, only a few sustained damage in the storm. 

After Helene, AAHH launched their Disaster Home Repair program in partnership with other local agencies via ARCHR, the Asheville Regional Coalition for Home Repair. This program helps low-income homeowners with storm-related damage who are otherwise unable to afford repairs​.

Building in Asheville

Our team comprised 12 representatives from Habitat Cincinnati, 10 staff members, 1 core volunteer, and 1 board member! Habitat Cincy staff came from the Construction, Operations, Repairs, and Development teams, and all brought various levels of experience and knowledge about homebuilding! 

We had a few Site Supervisors on the team who talked about how different it was to be on the other side of a home build- this time around, they were listening to Asheville Site Supervisors giving instructions to our team and other volunteers! Our Site Supers said they learned a lot from watching the Asheville staff in action and stepping into the shoes of a volunteer.

For others, especially Office staff, this week allowed them to get outside and get a better perspective of Habitat’s work on the ground every day, building homes, as well as a better appreciation for the hard work that Construction staff and volunteers do every day!

We worked on two job sites throughout the week, doing a wide variety of tasks including framing houses, painting walls, laying sod, landscaping, installing vinyl flooring, and other jobs. We worked alongside AAHH staff and core volunteers, along with the Notre Dame University Habitat collegiate chapter was also volunteering with AAHH throughout the same week.

Aside from working, team members also enjoyed checking out the craft brewery and food scene in Asheville! We had great weather all week, with the exception of our first day, the only full day devoted to having fun in Asheville, when we all got soaked on a rainy hike! Otherwise, we arrived in Asheville with views of beautiful fall foliage that only got more colorful throughout the week. Each evening after work wrapped up, team members had free time to hike and enjoy the mountain views, followed by team dinner and nightly reflections around a campfire.

One highlight for the team was attending a Homeowner Dinner with AAHH halfway through the week, where we shared a meal with a future homeowner who will be moving into an Aging in Place model home upon its expected completion in early 2026.

This was the first domestic travel-based volunteer program that Habitat Cincinnati has hosted since the COVID-19 pandemic, and was modeled after Habitat for Humanity International’s Global Village program that combines meaningful service-learning and cultural immersion for a weeklong international volunteer experience. 

For the foreseeable future, Habitat Cincy is planning to do an International Global Village build in one of our four Tithe Partner countries- Nepal, Kenya, Cambodia, or El Salvador- every year in February/March, and a domestic trip in September/October. Be on the lookout for these opportunities, which are open to the Habitat community at large!