Norris Furniture & Interiors Sponsors Habitat for Humanity Home

Furniture World News Desk on 8/6/2015

L-R: Norris Furniture & Interiors team Alice Matheson, Tammy Gonzalez, Lorraine Weiss, homeowner Yaseli Torres, Renee and Larry Norris, Doug Ulrich and Mitzi Metcalf at the Habitat for Humanity home dedication in July.

Norris Furniture & Interiors with stores in Fort Myers, Naples, Sanibel and a new Sarasota location opening this month reported that they recently handed Yaseli Torres the keys to her new home.

Larry and Renee Norris, owners of Norris Home Furniture & Interiors, along with several of their team who worked on the project, attended the Habitat for Humanity dedication for the home in San Carlos Park that they sponsored and helped build for the Torres family. “It was definitely hard work, but when you get moments like this it makes everything worth it. We are honored to work with Habitat; what a terrific group of people!” said Larry Norris.

Torres and her four children, Anthony, 15, Luis, 14, Joylinn, 8, and Amy, 2, were ecstatic to move into the neighborhood and begin decorating their rooms. “I am so happy for my mom to have achieved this, and I am really happy for my sister and I to start decorating our room,” said Joylinn.

Larry and Renee Norris, along with their employees, helped build the house starting from the ground up. Their team contributed 310 hours of volunteer labor, and contributed $75,000 to the construction of the home. This is the first home that Norris Furniture & Interiors has sponsored. However, they have contributed more than $90,000 to the affiliate since 2012. “It was great to see everything come together and be able to hand the keys over to the family,” said Renee Norris. “It’s a very special experience.”

President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties Kitty Green said such ceremonies represent what the organization works for. “This is the time when we get to celebrate all the hard work of the new homeowner family and say ‘thank you’ to all of the donors and volunteers that are involved in helping create that house,” Green said.

As Torres stood with her children in her own home, she noted that this new home would change their lives dramatically. Torres will make interest-free mortgage payments on her house, and was required to complete 300 sweat equity volunteer hours, pay $1,700 toward closing costs, and attend three homeownership classes that focus on budgeting and home maintenance.

For information on Habitat for Humanity visit www.habitat4humanity.org or call (239) 652-0434. For information on Norris Furniture & Interiors, contact Paula Robertson at pradvice@earthlink.net or (239) 454-1454.

About Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties: Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties is one of the largest Habitat affiliates in the country, and has helped more than 1,300 families in Lee and Hendry counties become homeowners. Habitat homes are built through the use of volunteer labor and donations of money and materials. The homes are then sold to low-income families with an interest-free mortgage and monthly payments set at 30% or less of the homeowner’s income, making homeownership an affordable reality. Habitat homeowners must qualify financially for the program; save $1,700 toward their closing costs; attend classes focusing on successful homeownership, budgeting and home maintenance; and complete 300 hours of “sweat equity” by volunteering at Habitat. It also supports Habitat for Humanity International by tithing a portion of its proceeds, allocated to Habitat’s global fund, disaster recovery in Haiti and initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean. Corporate Sponsors include Bank of America, Chase, Chico’s FAS Inc., Florida Community Bank, Hyatt Regency Coconut Point, IBERIABANK, Miromar Development Corporation, Sam Galloway Family of Dealerships, Shadow Wood Charitable Foundation, U.S. Sugar Corporation and Whirlpool Corporation. For more information call (239) 652-0434 or visit www.habitat4humanity.org.

About Norris Furniture & Interiors:  Norris Furniture & Interiors has four showrooms with locations in Fort Myers, Sanibel, Naples and Sarasota where a new showroom is scheduled to open this summer. For information, visit www.distinctlyNorris.com.