Habitat for Humanity Sarasota holds its first Women Build

The nationwide events started in 1991, but this is the first for the Sarasota chapter.

By Lesley Dwyer
| 12:30 p.m. April 27, 2023

Jinnie Rice and Kimber Skowronski. Rice is Skowronski's mother. Skowronski needs 400 volunteer hours before moving in, but family members can help.

East County
Neighbors

Kimber Skowronski and her teenage daughter were on the verge of homelessness after her landlord wanted to increase her rent by $800.

She was attending a Department of Housing and Urban Development first-time homebuyer’s class when she was referred to Habitat for Humanity Sarasota.

On April 27, Skowronski joined a group of 21 local women for Habitat Sarasota’s first Women Build event. The nationwide events began in 1991.

“This has been a dream of mine for 13 years that we get a Women Build started and off the ground,” President and CEO Renee Snyder said.

Hammock Place is a deed-restricted community near 17th Street and Beneva. Currently, 25 families live in the neighborhood. There will be 40 by the end of 2024 when the project is complete.

Volunteers were split into three groups: landscaping, flooring and painting. Having Skowronski and another future homeowner on site added to the morale and motivation.

“I was trying this other program in Manatee County that was just not working out for me,” she said. “It was a downpayment assistance program, and I just kept getting outbid by investor after investor.”

Skowronski, 41, has worked at McCurdy’s Comedy Club for over five years. She saved enough for a downpayment on a home and put in 20 bids, but she couldn’t compete with cash offers above the asking prices.

She was approved to buy a home through Habitat in December and signed the papers on Jan. 6, her birthday. Her 0% interest mortgage will cost less than her rent.

“Right now, it’s so hard, and I make so much money that I really don’t qualify for much in food stamps and things like that. I get a little, but it’s not much, so it’s not easy,” Skowronski said. “I’ll actually be able to say: ‘My daughter needs a new pair of shoes. OK, I can afford those shoes.’ I don’t have to figure out where that extra income is going to come from because I’ll have a couple extra hundred dollars a month, so that’s what I’m really looking forward to.”

Skowronski's 15-year-old daughter is looking forward to having a backyard. She wants a dog.

Habitat's goal is to have all 40 homes completed in the Hammock Place community by the end of 2024.

The flooring crew is given instructions and knee pads before the work begins.

The painting crew is working on the exteriors today.

Kelly Lerman and Lori Ruth get the spots no one else can reach.

Callie Friedman stops for a photo and to tighten her roller.

Charlotte Griffin and Litha John-Rose are on the landscaping crew.

Lakewood Ranch's Misdee Miller, who owns the Sarasota Polo Club with her husband James, and Karen Medford, who owns Sirius Day Spas with her husband Rich, volunteer during Women Build April 27.

Habitat for Humanity Sarasota holds a Women Build event on April 27.

author

Lesley Dwyer

Lesley Dwyer is a staff writer for East County and a graduate of the University of South Florida. After earning a bachelor’s degree in professional and technical writing, she freelanced for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Lesley has lived in the Sarasota area for over 25 years.