Sept. 24. The Habitat for Humanity breakfast fundraiser this morning at The Peninsula Club brought out hundreds of people who believe in giving others a hand up. Jeff Porter, executive director of Our Towns Habitat for Humanity, based in Cornelius, said area rentals start at around $800 a month. Habitat mortgages, on the other hand, are around $400 a month.

Our Towns’ goal is to build 18 new homes in the coming year. Cornelius resident Amy Huntley, pictured with Porter, will get one of those homes. A barista at Novant Hospital in Huntersville, she is a single mom who overcame almost insurmountable health issues. She never thought she would own a home. “I have beaten death so many times in life that my motto is never give up,” she said. Her house, in the Poole Place community off Bailey Road, gets under way soon.

Our Towns’ goal this year is to help one family per week, either with the opportunity to help build and buy a home or to provide much-needed repairs to existing housing.

The keynote speaker was Boris Henderson, a partner and chief financial officer of the Drakeford Co. He is responsible for capital, cash flow forecasting and loan procurement. A Davidson College graduate, he grew up in a Habitat home in Charlotte.