news-ClevelandTN-HabitatRestore(Cleveland, Tenn.) – Whirlpool Corporation and Habitat for Humanity International continue a partnership that builds homes and hope across the globe, including affordable housing right in our own backyard.

Executive Director for Habitat for Humanity of Cleveland, Tenn., Chip Willis, says, “The need for decent homes in the Cleveland/Bradley County area is great, much greater than most people know.”

Willis describes Habitat and its partners as people who “help provide long-term impact, which changes families’ lives forever, often breaking the cycle of unsafe living conditions and creating opportunities for success.”

Habitat families work alongside employee volunteers to build or improve places that can truly be called “homes,” enabling those who inhabit them to build strength, stability and self-reliance.

Recently, Habitat of Cleveland learned, through a $90,000 grant, Whirlpool Corp. is fully funding the construction of a brand, new home in the Blythe area of the city.

“Whirlpool and Habitat of Cleveland have enjoyed a longstanding partnership, both in monetary support, as well as volunteer participation.The company has committed itself to helping revitalize the area around the site of the former Whirlpool manufacturing facility. This new grant will allow us to build a new home in the Blythe Oldfield neighborhood and contribute to the remarkable transformation currently taking place in that area,” Willis says.

He goes on to explain, “We are also very thankful for the new appliances and products the company puts in these new homes each year, as well as the generous oven range donation from Whirlpool Corp. in Cleveland!”

Both ReStores were supplied with over 400 fully-equipped electric ranges, with only a few of them still in stock for ReStore customers to purchase at a discounted amount. Money spent in the North and South ReStores helps local families in need become one step closer to homeownership.

Over the past 17 years, Whirlpool Corp. has partnered with Habitat for Humanity, committing more than $101 million to programs in over 45 different countries.