Builders of Hope
A Social Entrepreneur's Solution for Rebuilding America
Wanda Urbanska
Foreword by Nancy Welsh

Builders of Hope, Inc.
978-0-89587-568-6
$19.95 paperback
5 ½ x 8 ½ 
208 pages plus 16-page insert
50 b&w photographs
October 2011
Environment & Nature, Current Events, Bio/Memoir, North Carolina

Builders of Hope rescues teardown housing and renovates it in place or physically moves the structures, creating new neighborhoods wholly comprised of recycled homes. Working directly with municipalities, the nonprofit organization saves entire historic neighborhoods from the wrecking ball during urban redevelopment. Each year, Builders of Hope diverts millions of pounds of construction debris from landfills; turns abandoned and blighted structures into attractive, affordable, and energy-efficient homes; develops and revitalizes neighborhoods; and provides “green-collar” job training for ex-offenders, the homeless, and at-risk youth.

The Wall Street Journal writes that Builders of Hope’s first community, Barrington Village in southeast Raleigh, “might be the most politically correct housing development on the planet.” The organization has enjoyed explosive growth and is now redeveloping neighborhoods in Raleigh, Fuquay-Varina, Durham, Cary, and Charlotte and reaching beyond North Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana, and Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.

In Builders of Hope, Wanda Urbanska chronicles the story of the pioneering organization from inception to realization, showing how it has created a new paradigm for affordable housing. Impressive before-and-after photographs and floor plans offer insight into how Builders of Hope operates. Builders of Hope demonstrates how Nancy Welsh’s original, audacious model of social entrepreneurism offers a timely, environmentally sustainable, and economically feasible solution for rebuilding America. The book will be published to celebrate Builders of Hope’s fifth anniversary. Proceeds from book sales will go toward funding its HopeWorks work-mentor program.