'Work Side by Side'

Councilmember Hulehan participates in Habitat Women Build in Woodside Park

Simpsonville, S.C. — While Councilmember Jenn Hulehan will have her iPad in hand behind the dais at the December Council meeting, she carried a nail gun in a house under construction in Woodside Park over the weekend.

Hulehan, who represents Ward III on Simpsonville City Council, participated on Dec. 11 in a Women Build construction in the Woodside Park development by Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County. Habitat for Humanity holds every two years a Women Build, in which women volunteers from all walks of life help construct houses with new homeowners. 

Simpsonville City Councilmember Jenn Hulehan of Ward III participated in the Women Build construction by Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County in the Woodside Park development off Beattie Street. Hulehan worked alongside the future homeowner on Dec. 11, 2021 | City of Simpsonville

The Women Build at Woodside Park ahead of the Council business meeting on Dec. 14 was the second Women Build to take place in the City of Simpsonville.

"Having another Women Build was really exciting," Hulehan said. "The Build was made possible by fundraising and supported by women business owners, executives and veterans. Women from across the Upstate and community participate and help make these houses a reality."

The Woodside Park development near Beattie Street in the Woodside Mill community is comprised of 13 Habitat houses. Council committed to the project in 2017 when it entered into a development agreement with and donated land on which the housing is being built to Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County. The project also involves Greenville County and the Greenville County Redevelopment Authority.

Hulehan, who is mayor pro-tem for Council, said the Women Build was very rewarding. Simpsonville Special Events Coordinator Lisa Everidge and former mayor and local business owner Janice Curtis joined Hulehan in the Build.

Former mayor and local business owner Janice Curtis, Simpsonville Special Events Coordinator Lisa Everidge and Councilmember Jenn Hulehan participated in the Women Build construction of a home in the Woodside Park development by Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County on Dec. 11, 2021 | City of Simpsonville

"It feels empowering because we actually got to work side by side with the future homeowner, who was putting in some of her sweat equity," Hulehan said. "She's a single mom of two boys, and we got to work alongside her, and that's a really good feeling: to work with the person who's eventually going to live in the house."

Future homeowners of Habitat for Humanity houses must meet several requirements for approval to buy their home. One of those requirements is 200 hours of physical labor in the construction of the house.

"A lot of people think Habitat builds a house and just gives it to someone, but that's not what it's about," Hulehan continued. "A huge piece of it is financial education like learning how to appropriately save money, appropriately spend money and prepare for emergencies. People don't realize the homeowners pay a mortgage. It's really a hand-up rather than a handout."

The foreclosure rate for Habitat homeowners is only 0.04 percent, which is lower than the national average, according to Hulehan.

When Hulehan joined Council in 2016, zero houses by Habitat for Humanity existed in Simpsonville. Once the Woodside Park development is completed, Simpsonville will boast nearly 20 Habitat houses, which include the 13 units in Woodside and units on Boyd Avenue.

"We immediately started working to re-establish our relationship with Habitat," Hulehan said. "Getting to a place where we could gift that land to Habitat took a lot of work and a lot of fight to get it done, and it's nice to see it finally come to fruition."

With the current state of the housing market, Hulehan said available affordable housing is vital to a thriving Simpsonville. Hulehan added that affordable housing opportunities allow for a wide variety of people to live in the City.

"The City thrives when it's diverse in its population, and if you can't find a house for under $250,000, you're not going to end up with a very diverse population," Hulehan said. "It's going to be hard for everyone to call Simpsonville home. When you think about teachers, firefighters or police officers, they need to be able to afford to live in the communities that they serve."

In short, Habitat for Humanity houses makes it easier for everyone to be able to call Simpsonville 'simply home.'

Read about the ground breaking for the Woodside Park development held Oct. 2, 2020: Ground broken on Woodside Park development.