September 29, 2026

Habitat Durham Returns to Southeast Durham with “The Goley Standard,” a $100,000 Campaign to Build a Four-Bedroom Home

DURHAM, N.C. — Habitat for Humanity of Durham will poured the foundation of its first home of the new fiscal year on Tuesday, September 22, at 105 N. Goley Street, launching a $100,000 community fundraising campaign the organization has named The Goley Standard. The four-bedroom, two-bath house marks the affiliate’s return to Southeast Durham, where it intends to complete a neighborhood it helped start and build additional homes in the years ahead.

The campaign divides the cost of the build into 14 sponsorable spaces, each priced at what that portion of the house actually costs to construct. Sponsorships range from $1,000 for the pantry to $25,000 for the foundation, with the kitchen, the primary suite, all four bedrooms, the covered front porch, and the side deck available in between. Spaces are reserved first-come, first-served, and donors who are not ready to fund an entire room may give any amount through the campaign’s Toolbox, which is pooled and applied to the next unclaimed space.

“Around here, when something is built right, we say it’s good as gold,” said Nimasheena N. Burns, President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Durham. “This one we’re calling good as Goley. Four bedrooms, two baths, a front porch, and a foundation poured to last — built for a Durham family who will own the deed.”

The Goley Street build carries particular significance for the organization. Southeast Durham is among the neighborhoods where Habitat Durham has done some of its longest-running work, and the affiliate has framed this house as the beginning of a sustained return rather than a single project.

“One house doesn’t change a street. A pattern of houses does,” Burns said. “We have unfinished business on this block. Goley is the first address in the next chapter, not the last one in the old chapter.”

Where the $100,000 Goes

A Habitat home in Durham costs between $185,000 and $225,000 to build. These numbers seem low but its due to volunteer labor covering roughly $85,000 of that on a typical house. Goley will be slightly less than $200,000 in materials, site work, and hard construction costs. Every sponsorship dollar is applied to the cost of that specific residence.

Sponsors are recognized on the job-site banner at 105 N. Goley Street, on the campaign web page, and at the home dedication. Sponsors at $5,000 and above receive volunteer build days on site, and the $25,000 Cornerstone sponsor receives a permanent engraved plaque inside the finished home.

“You don’t have to write a twenty-five-thousand-dollar check to have your name on this house,” Burns said. “A thousand dollars buys the pantry. Fifty dollars, a hundred times over, frames a wall. On this campaign, every dollar has an address.”

A Hand Up, Not a Handout

The home at 105 N. Goley Street will be sold, not given away. Habitat Durham sells its homes to qualified partner families using 30-year, zero-percent-interest mortgages. Families complete homeowner education, invest 250 hours of sweat equity building alongside volunteers, and sign at a closing table like any other buyer in Durham County. Family selection is conducted solely by Habitat for Humanity of Durham in accordance with fair housing law, and sponsors play no role in it.

The organization currently has 35 partner families in its homeownership pipeline and maintains a mortgage delinquency rate under two percent across a portfolio of more than 350 homeowner mortgages.

“We are in our 40th year in Durham, and before this year is out we will build and sell our 500th home in this county,” said Ernest Smith, chair of the Habitat for Humanity of Durham Board of Directors. “Milestones are worth marking, but they are not a finish line. The Goley Standard is how we keep going — one foundation, one family, one block at a time.”

How to Participate

• Sponsor a space. Review the 14 available spaces and claim one by contacting development@durhamhabitat.org.
• Give any amount. Toolbox gifts of any size are applied, dollar for dollar, to the next unclaimed space on the board.
• Bring a team. Corporate sponsors at $5,000 and above receive volunteer build days at 105 N. Goley Street. Habitat Durham engages roughly 1,800 to 2,100 volunteers annually and 18,000 volunteer hours each year.
• Mail a gift. Habitat for Humanity of Durham, 1823 Chapel Hill Road, Durham, NC 27707. Write “Goley” in the memo line.

About Habitat for Humanity of Durham

Founded in 1985 and now in its 40th year, Habitat for Humanity of Durham builds and sells affordable homes to qualified Durham County families using 30-year, zero-percent-interest mortgages. Partner families complete homeowner education and invest 250 hours of sweat equity in construction. The affiliate will build and sell its 500th home in Durham County this year and currently has 35 partner families in its homeownership pipeline. Habitat Durham engages approximately 2,100 volunteers and 18,000 volunteer hours annually across new construction and its home repair program, which last fiscal year completed 76 repairs for seniors, veterans, and households earning less than 50 percent of area median income. It is the largest land-owning Habitat affiliate in North Carolina. Learn more at durhamhabitat.org.

Habitat for Humanity of Durham is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Equal Housing Opportunity.