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The patio, wherever it is, and join this beautiful day, sipping a nice cup of coffee or whatever

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it is that you like to wake up to in the morning, I'm just glad that it's my voice today.

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So good morning and welcome to Around the House.

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My name is Scott Brokamp.

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I am the founder and one of the owners of his security and technology.

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And I have the great honor to, well, to get this show to continue on for hopefully many,

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many more years to come.

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So thank you for joining us this morning.

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Right now we're going to have a little bit of an overcast day here this morning.

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The sun's going to peak out a little bit later and should be a nice warm, yeah, you know,

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74, 76 degrees today.

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Should be enjoyable.

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So get outside and well, just enjoy this beautiful day that Mother Nature has made.

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If you need something to do, well, we can help you out with that.

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The Market Square Farmers Market returns to its every Saturday spring and summer schedule.

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This is the 20th season that the nonprofit group called Nourish Knoxville has organized

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the farmers market.

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So head downtown between 9 and 1 to meet area growers and artisans and support local businesses

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in East Tennessee.

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Speaking of local businesses, Stanley's Greenhouse is hosting a free workshop this morning.

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Abby Stanley will be a guest on our show next weekend, but today she is teaching how

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to design and plant the perfect spring container garden.

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The seminar starts at 10 30 this morning at Stanley store on Davenport Road in South

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Knoxville.

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And our fourth ranked Lady Vols softball team near and dear to my heart.

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We are playing our last home stand this weekend against South Carolina.

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We did squeak out last night's game three to nothing.

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First pitch today is at noon.

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So come on down to Sherry Parker Lee.

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And if you can get you a ticket, get in and enjoy a beautiful day at the ballpark.

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That series will wrap up tomorrow and hopefully clinched the SEC title for more information

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on all events happening around town today.

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Go to visit Knoxville.com.

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Let's visit Knoxville.com.

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Our topic for the first hour of around the house is renewable energy and your power bill.

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First August Congress passed new legislation that created tax incentives for businesses

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and utility companies to invest in clean energy like solar power.

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How soon will you see a reduction in your utility bill?

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Is it worth the investment to convert your house to solar here to bust a few myths about

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renewable energy are and Brock and John Hamilton from solar alliance.

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Good morning.

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John, how are you, sir?

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Good morning.

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Good to be here.

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Thanks.

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As you can tell, we have coined you the myth myth myth buster this morning.

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I can't spit it out, but we'll get there.

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Thanks for joining us this morning.

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Yeah, I appreciate it.

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And I'm not afraid of the myth buster challenge here.

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We've got a very proud of what we do at solar alliance in general, but in in terms of what

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we really do, most of its education and trying to make consumers more aware of what solar

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can do and what it does for their home or what it does for their bill, etc.

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So I think we're ready.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Well, I mean, solar is such a hot topic and, you know, the advancements that we have seen

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and with whether it be electric vehicles, whether it be solar wind, there are so many

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groups and emphasis and focuses on renewable energy, which is, I mean, quite frankly, is

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great, you know, it's, it's good for it's really, it's good for the future.

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Good for our future.

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It is good for the future.

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I mean, we, we, there's a lot of misinformation.

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There's a lot of, you know, ideas around solar that, you know, from Tinkerers and DIYers

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from back in the day and, you know, Home Power magazine to what you see in the technology

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space today.

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And for most people, most of our clients, they obviously see protecting the environment

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and clean energy as a positive.

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Most of them though won't do it unless it actually makes sense financially.

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Yeah.

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So you got different drivers there for sure.

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And, but it is exciting space to be in, especially these days.

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So before we dive into DPR, John, just do me a favor.

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Tell me a little bit about you and solar alliance in general.

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And tell us, you know, about your time here in Knoxville and what can you share with us

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about solar alliance as a business?

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I'm a, I'm a return to Knoxville guy.

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I mean, I graduated from Bearden high school back in the nineties and then went away, went

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to college and then went into the Marine Corps.

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And then after I retired in 2016, I came back to the Knoxville area.

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I linked up with Harvey Abelado, who was at the time with, with Aries energy, you know,

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long standing, I think probably over a decade plus of time and solar and renewable energy.

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And that company Aries had at the time just been acquired by Thompson machinery out of

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Nashville and was in the midst of building the first community solar project for Appalachian

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Electric co-op right up near Granger County.

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And was in the process of building that and in the process of kind of expanding a couple

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years later, solar alliance then come, it came in and acquired this business.

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But realistically, I joined the same company I worked for today.

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It's just the name has changed a little bit as, as has the scope of what we do.

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Initially, you know, when I first got here, it was a handful of projects, some really

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nice high profile projects, but we were about 12 to 15 guys.

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Now we're about 22 people strong and engaged in projects from, you know, Kentucky, North

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Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and have done much more regional projects.

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Most of our effort right now clearly is in Kentucky and Tennessee, but it's been exciting

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to watch this grow.

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And it's been exciting to watch the landscape, the technology landscape that we participate

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in a change over time as well.

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Yeah.

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I mean, technology, you know, obviously that's one of my favorite topics to always talk about.

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But you know, I mean, obviously there's so many bits and pieces that you can kind of,

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we could dive into on that technology side.

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I'll spare most of our listeners.

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But you know, through those components and through the technology as, as the products

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have gotten better, as the components have gotten better, the pricing has come down on

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those components and products.

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But what we can do with them has increased as well.

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And you know, solar is not new.

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It's been around for a long, long time.

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And but it's kind of like what I do in my world of home security and technology around

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your house is that now we're more involved in it.

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We have more information.

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We're able to see real time data.

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We're able to get these bits and pieces that can help a lot of us get the light bulb to

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come on and really kind of see, oh, this is working and this is how it is working.

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And oh, I can see when my usage is high, I can see when my usage is low, and we can make

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adjustments around our house that are going to be beneficial to obviously the power bill.

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But then, you know, in generalized statements of the taxing of the grid, right?

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I mean, we have seen some of those, we've seen many articles over the past year about

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the electric grids and being overtaxed and underbuilt and under maintained.

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And so there's a lot that goes into that.

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And we won't dive too deep into there.

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But we do want to talk about some of this stuff.

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When we come back, we're going to bust some of these myths.

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If you've got any questions or comments in regards to solar, you know, if you're in

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the midst of a dispute, I'm sorry.

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But if we can help you guide you and inform you about solar for your home or business,

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give us a call or text 865-656-8255.

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That's 865-656-8255.

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We're going to take a quick break.

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We'll be right back here on Around the House News Talk 987 WOKI.

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Welcome back to Around the House.

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I'm your host, Scott Brokamp.

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Joining me this morning in studio, I'm speaking with John Hamilton from Solar Alliance.

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And Brock is here to make sure John doesn't say anything he's not supposed to and kind

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of keep us in line around here.

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But I keep trying to give her a microphone and she just keeps pushing it away.

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So we figure we'll just tease her a little bit while we're here this morning.

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We are talking about solar, renewable energy.

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And we're going to bust some myths.

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But before we jump into that, there's one question I did want to ask because you guys

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had been in the news recently about a project with KUB.

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And it is a community solar project.

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And I want you to kind of explain to us what a community solar project is and maybe what

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this one with KUB is and how it may be different than others.

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Yeah.

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So first, I just want to say, like Solar Alliance Southeast, super proud to be a part of that

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project.

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Essentially, community solar is an alternative or an option so that people across the community

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can come together to support renewable energy or the adoption of renewable energy.

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In plain terms, you buy a panel or buy a share of the community solar project and then are

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given some benefit by that.

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That program is actually KUB.

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If you search KUB Community Solar, it's on their webpage and you can see that kind of

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how the program there works.

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For our point, we designed the system.

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We built the system.

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We installed it.

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And we're really proud of it.

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A lot of times our work is kind of unseen.

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It's sitting on a roof and especially in the commercial space, it's sitting on a roof and

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you just don't see it.

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We like to talk about this project.

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It's probably the most visible project we have because if you sat on 40, going westbound

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out of the city, good chance you've sat right in front of it for at least two or three minutes

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in traffic, you know, right there on the, you know, just on the west.

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Right before it.

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Yeah.

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Right before 640 comes in.

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I mean, it's almost hard to miss.

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Yeah.

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It is hard to miss.

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And that's good.

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And I think it's a message of the furthest city that we are an energy city.

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I mean, Oak Ridge National Labs, TVA, the dams that we all enjoy publicly producing hydro

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power.

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It is remarkable what the sun's fear.

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I mean, 1982 World's Fair all about energy.

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You know, it is remarkable what we do in this community for advanced clean energy and having

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a very unique focal point right there on 640 is unique.

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And we're proud to be a part of that.

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Say solar lines help build that.

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Yeah.

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Absolutely.

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And there are, you know, I mean, there's a lot of myths about solar and about energy

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and, and, and all of that.

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And I think you're right for me, you know, living here, it makes me feel good knowing

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that at least the utility sources are buying into the latest technology to help and do

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their best on a renewable standpoint, which is obviously it's going to benefit us.

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It's going to benefit our community.

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Yeah.

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I think we talk about it in terms of the three E's.

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So environmental stewardship, you can't live in this part of the country and not understand

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the beauty and your responsibility to protect our environment that you can't do that.

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So being smart about how we use our natural resources is, is a good thing and something

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we're alert to.

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The other part is economic development and how solar can affect us and help our business

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or help our home save energy, reduce expense.

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And the third part is energy independence, which we're not advocating necessarily removing

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ourselves on the grid because the grid is a very vital thing to sustained economic life

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here in East Tennessee.

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But what we are advocating is being able to protect yourself using renewable energy to

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offset your overall consumption and also protect yourself in terms of power outages

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or those kinds of things which are inevitable and will happen.

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So whether it's battery backup or a generator or the integration of solar with that, those

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are generally the motivators that we see is probably not unfamiliar to his security as

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well.

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Sure.

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Yeah, no, absolutely.

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So, you know, one of the things that obviously I'm sure comes up to you guys and I guess,

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maybe let me ask you what, what is the number one myth that you seem like you bust more

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than any others?

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There's two of them.

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They go hand in hand.

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The first one is, and this seems kind of crazy, but solar does not work at night.

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Okay.

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The second one also does not work in the shade.

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Okay.

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So, and the reason that's important because in the way that, and this is myth two is that

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the utility will somehow, you know, credit you back money, you know, for the way that

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you produce power.

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They're not necessarily in that business.

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And the point I'm saying here is that we use power differently in our home or in our business

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throughout the day.

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Sure.

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So when that aligns, when solar production aligns with when you're using power, it saves

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you money.

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I can't because it's low cost, no entered, you know, no fuel source renewable energy

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coming to you.

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Sure.

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But when you are using power and that solar is not active, you're having to pull that

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energy from somewhere else.

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Right.

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And that's either the grid, you know, through your utility meter or battery.

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If you've decided to store power there.

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But I think a lot of misconceptions start with this under misunderstanding that how electricity

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is produced must align with your, you know, must align with how you use power in order

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for it to make the most economical sense.

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Sure.

238
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And, you know, that some of that comes from old baggage.

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When I first got here, TVA had a program called GPP and they would buy your power and there

240
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was an incentive to do that.

241
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That went away somewhere around 16 or 17 somewhere around maybe 18.

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Start to run together, but it's gone.

243
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So that program doesn't exist.

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So as a result, most of the residential systems we sell nearly all, I would say, have batteries

245
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as a component.

246
00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:23,880
Sure.

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So that you can use or move the power that you've made and with solar to a different

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time.

249
00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:31,160
Right.

250
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That's that, that storage capacity.

251
00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:33,160
Right.

252
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:39,880
And I think it, you know, again, I'm by no means am I anywhere of knowledgeable in this

253
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:46,440
stance standpoint is, is obviously you guys are, but I think that to me, one of the misconceptions

254
00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:53,040
come in is that I think people think that solar is a, it's going to take the place of

255
00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:58,200
type of scenario and it's not, you know, this is just a, this is a partner with.

256
00:15:58,200 --> 00:15:59,200
Yeah.

257
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:04,360
It can take the place of, but to do that requires you have to have a system that's as resilient

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as a grid.

259
00:16:05,840 --> 00:16:11,640
And that means adding energy storage or a generator, some combination so that you have

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the power you want when you need it.

261
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And that's a tough thing to buy on your own, which is why the utility exists.

262
00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:20,360
Exactly.

263
00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:26,640
You know, offsetting your consumption or using it in certain ways is a very smart, you know,

264
00:16:26,640 --> 00:16:30,960
decision, especially as we look to the future with electric vehicles, all the things that

265
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you're looking at.

266
00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:32,960
Oh yeah.

267
00:16:32,960 --> 00:16:38,920
We're using more power and we're using more power, but at the end of the day, you know,

268
00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:44,520
we, we in almost all circumstances are we partnering with the grid?

269
00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:49,280
You know, you kind of, you mentioned it a little bit before about a buyback program.

270
00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:54,800
You know, there are a lot of areas in the country that actually have a buyback program

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for solar.

272
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:57,680
But we don't have that here.

273
00:16:57,680 --> 00:16:58,680
Is that right?

274
00:16:58,680 --> 00:16:59,680
Yeah.

275
00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:07,040
So, so after the GPP went away, the TVA does have a program called dispersed power providers

276
00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:08,240
at DPP.

277
00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:15,960
So there are certain programs and qualifications that you could see a marginal benefit from

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00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:18,160
excess power going back to the grid.

279
00:17:18,160 --> 00:17:19,160
Those do exist.

280
00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:24,080
They're mostly more usable on the, on the commercial level.

281
00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:25,080
Right.

282
00:17:25,080 --> 00:17:29,520
For example, you might have a weekend where you're down, but you have a lot of solar capacity.

283
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:30,520
Sure.

284
00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:36,600
So maybe make more sense there, but it's few and far between and that we, that we see,

285
00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:43,760
you know, really successful buyback incentives working or making it possible to do that.

286
00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:48,320
North of us in Kentucky, you know, outside of the TVA region, they have net metering.

287
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:49,640
It's a whole different relationship.

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So produce more power than you make, you know, than you know, they benefit or they credit

289
00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:57,800
your bill, but that's just not an option for us.

290
00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:01,080
So we have to be smarter about this, how we size the system.

291
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:02,080
Right.

292
00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:07,760
And we have to be smarter about how we size a battery component of that to make it make

293
00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:08,760
sense.

294
00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:09,760
Right.

295
00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,880
Well, and again, and kind of like we alluded, you know, thinking of solar, obviously in

296
00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,600
our area, you know, we hear, I mean, I hear it.

297
00:18:17,600 --> 00:18:19,800
Well, TVA, they don't buy back.

298
00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:20,800
They don't buy back.

299
00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:28,640
Well, you know, but we also, we have the benefit of what the cost is from TVA as well versus

300
00:18:28,640 --> 00:18:30,800
what it is in some other areas too.

301
00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:31,800
Absolutely.

302
00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,280
Again, we're real proud of what we do with utilities.

303
00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:35,280
Yeah.

304
00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:42,280
I mean, KUB, the guys and guys KUB are working hard every day to ensure distribution is up.

305
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:43,280
Metering takes place.

306
00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:44,280
They're planning for the future.

307
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,120
You know, they're working really hard at that, just like Appalachian Electric and just like

308
00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:55,000
LG and E, again, KU, who we've all done work for in our region projects for directly for

309
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:56,000
them.

310
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,400
You know, so they're out there and in part of it, the TVA complaint sometimes is a business

311
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:01,600
model really thing.

312
00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:02,600
Sure.

313
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:05,320
You know, KUB doesn't generate the power.

314
00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,480
They, in most cases, the vast majority, they buy the power from TVA.

315
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:14,160
So it doesn't really help them if solar, you know, they have to pay somebody else for

316
00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:15,160
solar as well.

317
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,800
You know, so it just doesn't make business sense.

318
00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:18,800
Right.

319
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:24,920
But the utilities in the TVA area are working hard at looking what is in the future and how

320
00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:26,360
that's going to shape it.

321
00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:32,760
And TVA, frankly, has been a major part of the economic development of our region because

322
00:19:32,760 --> 00:19:34,400
of low cost energy.

323
00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,560
So fighting that is not something that we do.

324
00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:38,560
Right.

325
00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:40,160
You know, it's just how do we work best together?

326
00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:41,160
Exactly.

327
00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:47,080
You know, so again, kind of as we mentioned, thinking of solar as an additional component

328
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:52,400
to, and again, and so as we, that's kind of one of the misconceptions and myths.

329
00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:57,280
And as we look at those things here locally in our area, well, there's reasons for that.

330
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:01,800
And again, as we just mentioned, the cost of energy to us versus what it is in other

331
00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:08,040
areas as to why some of those incentives may be different here than where they are in other

332
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:09,680
areas across the country.

333
00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,280
So again, we're going to take a short break.

334
00:20:12,280 --> 00:20:18,640
But if you have questions, if you need to get some professional answers, give us a call

335
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:23,600
or text 865-656-8255.

336
00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,440
That's 865-656-8255.

337
00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:42,840
I am Scott Brokamp and we will be right back here on Around the House on News Talk 987WOKI.

338
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,960
And welcome back to Around the House.

339
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,080
I am Scott Brokamp, your host for this morning.

340
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:53,320
And I am speaking with our friends over at Solar Alliance.

341
00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,480
I have John Hamilton here with us.

342
00:20:55,480 --> 00:21:01,320
And well, I don't know, maybe we're just going to call her the boss of the room right now,

343
00:21:01,320 --> 00:21:07,680
and Brock, making sure that we all stay on track around here because we all know I like

344
00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,200
to get sidetracked.

345
00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:11,960
But anyway, thank you for listening.

346
00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:16,200
If you're just joining us, we are talking about renewable energy.

347
00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,320
Our guests this morning are from Solar Alliance.

348
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:23,920
You can find them at solaralliance.com.

349
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:29,920
And if you have been listening, they are one of their most recent, most, I guess, higher

350
00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,440
profile.

351
00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:33,440
Most visible.

352
00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:39,400
Most visible installations has been the KUB Community Solar Project that you can see

353
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:44,600
right there on I-40 as you're waiting for traffic to clear as 640 merges in.

354
00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,640
So we also have a caller on the line with us this morning.

355
00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:52,000
David, how are you this morning, sir?

356
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,200
Hey, I'm good.

357
00:21:55,200 --> 00:22:00,000
I know you all just said the KUB doesn't have a buyback program.

358
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,040
I get that.

359
00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:06,960
But what if I'm generating more electricity during the day than I'm using?

360
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,480
Obviously, I'll use more at night.

361
00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:14,480
Will my meter run backward and give me credits or would that be considered a buyback program?

362
00:22:14,480 --> 00:22:15,480
Oh, wow.

363
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:16,720
Great question, David.

364
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:17,720
Thank you.

365
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:18,720
John.

366
00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:22,640
Yeah, that would be considered a buyback program.

367
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:30,240
So in what the term most frequently used for that type of scenario where when you overproduce

368
00:22:30,240 --> 00:22:37,200
with solar, and then the utility credits your bill, that's called net metering.

369
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,840
So the net usage is what you're billed.

370
00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:46,640
That's not what happens in most, in any case, in TVA.

371
00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:51,480
Now there are what I mentioned before, there is a, it's called the DPP program.

372
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:57,320
There are some utilities that will pay you for overproduction, but it will not be what

373
00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,040
you pay them for your consumption.

374
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:05,160
So it's not a, it's not a one to one like you see in Kentucky with net metering, or

375
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:09,240
if you come from California, you've moved from the area from most other parts of the

376
00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:11,920
country, that's not the same relationship.

377
00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:18,040
So you may be able to take some incentive there, but it's not going to be the same or

378
00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:23,240
equitable to what you're paying, which is why in most cases we opt for some kind of

379
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,520
battery system to move or shift that load.

380
00:23:26,520 --> 00:23:32,600
The other option, if you don't mind me adding Scott, is you could also, you can go on your,

381
00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:39,000
if you're a KUB customer, you can actually go on your bill now, or you're the website

382
00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,360
and look at your bill and you can see how much power you use during the day and how

383
00:23:43,360 --> 00:23:45,040
much power you use at night.

384
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:50,760
And that will give you a fair, really just once over of how you use power and then what

385
00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:55,640
maybe makes sense if you were considering solar, because it just doesn't work out that

386
00:23:55,640 --> 00:23:59,080
you have selling power to the KUB and it just isn't the way to go.

387
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:00,080
Right.

388
00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:01,080
Got it.

389
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:02,800
David, thank you very much for your call this morning, buddy.

390
00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,200
We appreciate you.

391
00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,800
Thank you, sir.

392
00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:14,080
So, you know, I mean, again, this is, as we were talking earlier, and I will keep reiterating,

393
00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,200
solar is a good tandem solution, right?

394
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:22,680
It is, it's going to allow me to cut down on how that meter's running, how much that

395
00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:29,080
meter's running, and obviously, again, the data, the data, data, data, data, it's all

396
00:24:29,080 --> 00:24:30,080
about data.

397
00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:36,240
The more information that we have, the better we are to be able to predict and protect.

398
00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:40,320
And those are really, you know, a part of our key environments that if I know when my

399
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:45,720
highest usage is for my utilities, then now I can make some changes.

400
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:47,920
I can do something about it.

401
00:24:47,920 --> 00:24:48,920
Yeah.

402
00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,080
So, again, most of our business is in the commercial space.

403
00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:59,840
So commercial solar, or, you know, it changes the incentives that are available change,

404
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,080
but also so does your power consumption.

405
00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:05,680
So generally speaking, you're running shifts during the day.

406
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,840
Higher consumption during the day than maybe even a third or fourth shift that might be

407
00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:10,840
at night.

408
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:16,080
So in those cases, the applicability of solar for commercial solutions is often easier.

409
00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:17,080
Sure.

410
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:18,080
But you're right.

411
00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,840
The data is essential.

412
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:25,040
Understanding how you use power is the most important factor when considering the size

413
00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,440
of a system.

414
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:34,480
If you are a low, you're already very energy efficient or you have a, you know, you have

415
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:39,360
intermittent use on the facility or in your home, like a cabin or something like that.

416
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:43,280
HVAC system is generally your primary driver during the day, Tom.

417
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:47,360
So sizing it around that makes the most sense.

418
00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:51,920
And we've done system as small as like three kilowatts, which is, you know, roughly small

419
00:25:51,920 --> 00:25:54,720
enough to generally creep under your usage.

420
00:25:54,720 --> 00:26:00,920
Now, if you have a pool and you have a larger home and your electric bill is upwards of

421
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:07,280
250, then you could probably move that into a three or four or five kilowatt system even

422
00:26:07,280 --> 00:26:10,520
and still not see a lot of overproduction.

423
00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:14,920
After that though, really you need to consider batteries or energy storage and how that could

424
00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:21,120
shift in your shift, the, when the energy is produced into the time when you're using

425
00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:22,120
later.

426
00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:27,080
So let's talk a little bit about, about businesses, small businesses in particular.

427
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:32,160
There is, you guys are doing, as you mentioned, you're focusing a lot in that commercial space

428
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,600
right now, but there's a reason for that.

429
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:35,600
Right.

430
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:36,600
Right.

431
00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:41,560
The, the, the stack of incentives that are available, mostly through the, the, the IRA,

432
00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:48,320
the federal law that came out is just, it's, it's, it's the best it's ever been.

433
00:26:48,320 --> 00:26:51,520
So yours, you've got a 30% based tax credit.

434
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:57,160
You've got additional percentages that are, if you're using domestic content, which is

435
00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,880
certainly achievable that you can get.

436
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:07,960
And more importantly, most of our area outside of Knoxville proper, if it, if you're a small

437
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:16,080
business in a rural area, the USDA is offering a grant that is up to 50% of the system.

438
00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:21,360
So if you add those, you know, you're looking at a one or two year return.

439
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:30,120
Um, with a over 80% of it coming to you from tax credits or grants and those kinds of,

440
00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:35,480
uh, those kind of incentives are just, you know, kind of almost too good to be true,

441
00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:41,280
but that's what we try to do on a daily basis is navigate, uh, and show small businesses

442
00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:42,280
how that works.

443
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,160
Again, this is, you have to be considered a rural small business.

444
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:46,160
So, sure.

445
00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:50,680
Um, but you know, we, we will have our first grant submitted even in Oak Ridge, which right

446
00:27:50,680 --> 00:27:53,480
outside Oak Ridge is considered a small bit of rural area.

447
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,520
So rural is not necessarily what most of us think of rural anymore.

448
00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,320
Um, but, uh, either an ag producer or rural small business.

449
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:08,120
So a dentist or a veterinary hospital, animal hospital or a wedding venue or a insurance

450
00:28:08,120 --> 00:28:09,120
company.

451
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:12,520
Uh, we've, I mean, we've done this several times in Morristown proper.

452
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:16,880
I mean, just rooftop projects in Morristown that you never see unless you're looking

453
00:28:16,880 --> 00:28:18,480
at it from the worst.

454
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:24,880
So I mean, it sounds like, you know, uh, I'm not going to go on any conspiracy theories.

455
00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:29,480
I know a lot of people do, but a lot of times when the government offers incentives and

456
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,840
they offer grants for doing things, a lot of times there's a lot of hoops and a lot

457
00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:36,600
of loopholes that we have to try to be mindful of and work through.

458
00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:42,320
So I mean, a, I think from what I understand of this, you, your team helps navigate that

459
00:28:42,320 --> 00:28:49,640
and helps kind of a pre-qualify of whether or not this project is going to be even capable

460
00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:52,600
of being qualified for these types of grants.

461
00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:53,600
Right.

462
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:55,360
And that is part of the education process.

463
00:28:55,360 --> 00:29:02,080
So the first thing is recommending and advising you on a system that's not going to be wasteful

464
00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:06,920
in terms of overproduction or insufficient for your purposes.

465
00:29:06,920 --> 00:29:08,200
That's step one.

466
00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,520
Step two is looking at the, you know, under, you know, educating you on the system, on

467
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,800
the, uh, the grants and incentives are available, walking you through that.

468
00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:21,360
And if it comes down to it in the case of the USDA grant, the REAP grant, then we'll

469
00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,080
write the grant as well.

470
00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:24,640
We can help you go through that process.

471
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,800
We were, you know, to help you understand what you need to wear and how you need to

472
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,120
register to participate, et cetera.

473
00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:33,800
But that is what we do.

474
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:39,720
What we don't do is offer financing and what we did, and we generally, you know, obviously

475
00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:44,280
as a result, we spend a lot of time with our customers trying to just advise them on options.

476
00:29:44,280 --> 00:29:45,280
Sure.

477
00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:49,000
Well, and, and again, I mean, you're, you're absolutely correct.

478
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:57,600
The education part of, uh, of just our solar and renewable resources here, protecting our

479
00:29:57,600 --> 00:29:59,960
beautiful landscape of East Tennessee.

480
00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:03,640
Um, you, this isn't, this isn't, uh, I'm going to, uh, I'm going to, uh, uh, uh, uh,

481
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:08,600
I'm going off the cuff here cause I randomly run off the rails constantly in life.

482
00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:16,280
So, but one of the things that I really see as a potential concern is we, we talk about

483
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:21,960
land availability when we talk about development and urban development here locally.

484
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:27,240
So I'm assuming that some of these community solar projects, like with KUB, they're going

485
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:28,640
to be land intensive.

486
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:29,640
Yeah.

487
00:30:29,640 --> 00:30:32,480
That's a great, great comment.

488
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:33,640
Yeah.

489
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:38,560
So one of the things I really loved about KUB and frankly, one of the design challenges

490
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:45,000
in that case was you had a, um, you had, you had an old site, an old site where there

491
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:50,920
were some issues about soil contamination or possible soil contamination and you have

492
00:30:50,920 --> 00:30:57,080
TVA transmission lines running over that property, which essentially made it unusable for the

493
00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:01,560
city, um, to be able to develop that into something else.

494
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:06,600
Um, a lot of brownfield sites are like that where you don't have a lot of options with

495
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:07,600
the land.

496
00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:09,080
So in this case it was, it was genius.

497
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,320
I mean, it's, it's highly visible.

498
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:15,200
It accomplishes the public reach, the public facing aspect of it.

499
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:18,000
You're not really doing anything else with that property.

500
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:20,680
Um, uh, because you can't really be used for anything.

501
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:21,680
Yeah.

502
00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:22,680
There's easements running through it.

503
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:24,160
So it's, it's dead land.

504
00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:30,800
Uh, I, uh, I admire, uh, and I think it's, it's incredible to look at some of the large

505
00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:36,640
scale solar projects that are out there, big, you know, 100 megawatt sites and those kind

506
00:31:36,640 --> 00:31:37,640
of things.

507
00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:40,880
But I have an equal concern about how we're using that kind of land.

508
00:31:40,880 --> 00:31:42,920
I mean, I, it's not a great application.

509
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:48,000
And frankly, those are for me in some areas now, maybe in the desert or, you know, I don't,

510
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:49,000
I have no idea.

511
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,640
I never lived there, but, uh, you know, in those cases, those type systems are being

512
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:55,640
in interconnected to the grid.

513
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:57,680
They're just like any other generating station.

514
00:31:57,680 --> 00:31:58,680
Sure.

515
00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,600
And you know, it's, it's coming from a centralized place and then distributed.

516
00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:03,600
Yeah.

517
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,160
What we really advocate for is distributed generation.

518
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:13,800
So if you have a new roof or you have a warehouse facility or some kind of manufacturing facility

519
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:20,280
using what is already dead real estate, which is your roof for the production of energy,

520
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:24,960
production of clean energy, it just, we think that that is, that makes sense.

521
00:32:24,960 --> 00:32:33,040
The other thing it does is puts the generation of power at the facility, not, you know, not

522
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:37,280
being commute, not being distributed over transmission or distribution lines.

523
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,200
So it's ready for you.

524
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,640
It's ready for the adoption of batteries in the future.

525
00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:44,760
It's ready for those kinds of technologies.

526
00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:49,200
And I think those, we often call those micro grids.

527
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:54,440
Those kind of that kind of technology is what's going to help us become more resilient and

528
00:32:54,440 --> 00:33:00,000
make the grid more adaptable when you start layering on electric vehicles and those kind

529
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:01,000
of things.

530
00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:06,960
The, the, the challenge I think is not centralized power production being distributed.

531
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,520
It is, how do we get more power production on the periphery?

532
00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:11,520
Correct.

533
00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:12,520
Got it.

534
00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:13,520
Yeah.

535
00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:14,520
Again, working together, working together.

536
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:24,280
Hey, if you've got questions, comments about anything solar, give us a caller text, 865-656-8255.

537
00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:33,120
Or you can call toll free at 1-800-951-8255.

538
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:44,320
We're going to take a short break right here on around the house on news talk, 987-WOKI.

539
00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:46,920
And welcome back to around the house.

540
00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,360
Such a beautiful morning out today.

541
00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:59,000
We are, well, we're producing renewable energy in this room today because we have the professionals

542
00:33:59,000 --> 00:34:01,320
on that with us.

543
00:34:01,320 --> 00:34:05,440
John Hamilton and Anne Brock from solar alliance.

544
00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:11,040
So John, I know that we've talked about the small business aspect and, and busted some

545
00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:12,040
myths.

546
00:34:12,040 --> 00:34:19,240
Um, so, you know, I know you guys had a project recently that was helping a nonprofit and,

547
00:34:19,240 --> 00:34:24,080
and that was kind of a near and dear, especially to Anne's heart over there.

548
00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:25,920
And, and it's a good reason why.

549
00:34:25,920 --> 00:34:27,760
So tell us a little bit about that project.

550
00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:28,760
Yeah.

551
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,080
We, um, you know, again, most of what we do is community.

552
00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:39,000
We're really proud to have, um, finished that project for KUB right there on 40.

553
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:44,680
And we also are very proud of our customers, our residential customers that we do.

554
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:51,280
It's not a vast portion of our work, but, um, the job that, uh, and wanted to talk about

555
00:34:51,280 --> 00:34:54,960
with faith Lutheran and Oak Ridge was just fight out really exciting.

556
00:34:54,960 --> 00:35:01,440
It was nice to see that, um, they had put a lot of thought into how they wanted solar

557
00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:06,040
to work for their church and their community, their congregation.

558
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:11,520
They had put the effort into researching what it was going to take and what the best option,

559
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:14,480
most responsible option for that congregation.

560
00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:19,960
And the fact that they chose us and allowed us to work for them and, uh, and put that

561
00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:22,440
system on their system was just incredible.

562
00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:28,320
And it's, um, it's a unique application because it is a church and it's a nonprofit.

563
00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:33,680
And you know, there are some incentives that along with the small business incentives that

564
00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:39,000
were out there, there are, there is a direct pay option now, uh, for nonprofits and, you

565
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:43,160
know, people who can't necessarily leverage tax credit and, uh, being able to put all

566
00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:48,400
that together for them and, and, uh, support them in their stewardship mission, uh, was

567
00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:51,240
really tremendous and, uh, we're pretty proud of that.

568
00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:52,240
Yeah.

569
00:35:52,240 --> 00:35:57,320
Well, you know, in, in just, again, I mean, being a nonprofit as they are, uh, helping

570
00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:04,520
them find ways to have more resources to give back into the communities that they serve

571
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:05,520
is amazing.

572
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:10,680
So, um, John, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

573
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:16,040
If you want to get in touch with the folks at solar alliance, the easy way is just go

574
00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:21,200
to solar alliance.com that's solar alliance.com.

575
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:29,120
Um, and they're happy to, you know, come out, evaluate your product and well, quite frankly,

576
00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:35,040
help provide you some education and bust some of those myths about solar.

577
00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:38,920
So, uh, thank you guys so much for joining me this morning.

578
00:36:38,920 --> 00:36:48,360
And as we roll into our newly found fun bit fact of information, our topic of the day

579
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:55,000
today being May 6th, I hope that you guys enjoyed May the 4th be with you and Cinco

580
00:36:55,000 --> 00:36:56,000
De Mayo.

581
00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:01,160
Um, but before we take a break, it's time to talk about our topic of the day.

582
00:37:01,160 --> 00:37:05,600
Of course, to Kentucky, to Kentucky Derby is today, the race known as the most exciting

583
00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:12,460
two minutes in sports runs at exactly 657 this evening by seven wheel crown a winner.

584
00:37:12,460 --> 00:37:16,680
You probably recall seeing the huge blanket of roses that they put on the winning horse.

585
00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:21,880
But did you know all those roses weigh about 40 pounds?

586
00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:27,880
And that brings me to what we really wanted to talk about for our topic of the day gardening,

587
00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,880
specifically naked gardening.

588
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:36,040
The first Saturday in May is world naked gardening day.

589
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:41,840
It started about 18 years ago and has steadily increased in popularity as more people are

590
00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:45,240
exposed to the idea.

591
00:37:45,240 --> 00:37:48,880
I mean, I've just so, I mean, my mind is going wild here.

592
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:57,960
I have so many questions, so many thoughts, so, so many, uh, unfortunately vivid imaginations

593
00:37:57,960 --> 00:37:58,960
going on right now.

594
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:06,840
So, hey, listen, if you find your neighbors outside naked today, just maybe go help them

595
00:38:06,840 --> 00:38:14,360
pull some weeds, spread some manure, whatever the case may be, they are probably participating

596
00:38:14,360 --> 00:38:16,680
in world naked gardening day.

597
00:38:16,680 --> 00:38:22,680
Um, John, I know that you've anxiously been awaiting the opportunity to talk about this

598
00:38:22,680 --> 00:38:23,680
topic.

599
00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:24,680
Yeah.

600
00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:25,680
I am.

601
00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:27,840
I'm in fact, uh, having just found out about it.

602
00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:29,720
I'm glad that it exists.

603
00:38:29,720 --> 00:38:35,760
Number one, the second thing I'd say is, uh, you know, for those of you, uh, backyard,

604
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:40,760
backyard, uh, poultry experts, um, mind the chickens, that would be my first concern.

605
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:45,240
But honestly, I think the best advice came from Ann and I know that she's fully adopted

606
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:49,480
her role as a part of the solar community and a part of a solar company.

607
00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:55,000
And so for Ann to all the listeners who participate in naked day, make sure you, uh, plenty of

608
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:56,000
sunscreen,

609
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,280
Yeah, no, no doubt about it.

610
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:02,880
Um, Chris, did you know about this?

611
00:39:02,880 --> 00:39:05,200
Have you ever heard of this before?

612
00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:09,760
I have never heard about this before, but at the same time, I'm not very surprised this

613
00:39:09,760 --> 00:39:10,760
exists.

614
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:17,120
Well, I'm not either, which kind of brings us to why we started the topic of the day,

615
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:23,240
because as many of us know, every day is the national day of something crazy, wacky, wild,

616
00:39:23,240 --> 00:39:25,040
and insane.

617
00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:30,560
And we wanted to, uh, well, quite frankly, we wanted to just lighten up your morning.

618
00:39:30,560 --> 00:39:35,800
Maybe you just needed a chuckle with your coffee or whatever it is you may be drinking.

619
00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:39,480
Uh, after listening to this, I think some of these folks may start their day with a

620
00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:44,680
shot of whiskey or, uh, a little something stronger than what I have in my cup.

621
00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:51,240
Um, but, uh, you know, I mean, it's not really a surprise, I guess, you know, it's really

622
00:39:51,240 --> 00:39:52,240
not.

623
00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:57,520
Uh, and I have heard of this ironically enough a few years back, I heard about it.

624
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:02,240
I love reading news articles in the morning and that's where I came across it.

625
00:40:02,240 --> 00:40:09,840
Um, and it is, uh, it, my understanding is it started, uh, overseas and has spread pretty,

626
00:40:09,840 --> 00:40:12,960
pretty quickly throughout the entire world.

627
00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:19,120
So again, if you see your neighbors, uh, out gallivanting in the nude today, they are

628
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,400
just doing some normal gardening.

629
00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:27,840
Um, yeah, you know, so any rate, we're, uh, we'll talk a little bit about that when

630
00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:28,840
we come back.

631
00:40:28,840 --> 00:40:33,200
I do want to thank our folks from solar alliance for joining us this morning.

632
00:40:33,200 --> 00:40:39,440
Um, and when we come back, we're going to be talking to, uh, a wonderful nonprofit that

633
00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:41,040
many of us know very well.

634
00:40:41,040 --> 00:40:43,400
It is near dear to many of our hearts.

635
00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:44,800
So we're going to take a short break.

636
00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:46,800
I hope you'll join us here in the second hour.

637
00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:55,640
We'll be back with more around the house after this break here on news talk, 98 seven W okay.

638
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:58,400
I.

639
00:40:58,400 --> 00:40:59,400
Good morning.

640
00:40:59,400 --> 00:41:01,560
Good morning.

641
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:03,560
Welcome to around the house.

642
00:41:03,560 --> 00:41:10,280
I hope you were enjoying our conversation the first hour with our friends from solar alliance.

643
00:41:10,280 --> 00:41:17,160
And this hour we're, we were going to talk about some really good old fashioned, um,

644
00:41:17,160 --> 00:41:20,280
community driven organization here.

645
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:25,000
Our friends from habitat for humanity are going to be joining us this morning.

646
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:31,920
And, um, I just got to say, if you've got any comments or questions or concerns about

647
00:41:31,920 --> 00:41:35,960
naked gardening day, we would love to hear from you.

648
00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:40,120
Uh, eight, six, five, six, five, six, eight, two, five, five.

649
00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:49,320
This is, uh, you know, one of those wacky day of national day, world day of all I got

650
00:41:49,320 --> 00:41:55,640
to say is, you know, I do a lot of work outside for my job, you know, every once in a while

651
00:41:55,640 --> 00:42:02,280
we're hanging cameras and climbing around addicts and crawl spaces, et cetera.

652
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:06,000
And I just got to say pants are a valuable tool.

653
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:09,000
It helps protect me in a lot of ways.

654
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:15,760
And, uh, uh, just be careful of your partaking in national, uh, in world naked gardening day.

655
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:19,800
I certainly hope that you're not done pruning any rose bushes.

656
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:25,280
That would be a, a painful, painful little culling experience.

657
00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:26,280
Watch those pruners.

658
00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:27,280
Yeah, exactly.

659
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:28,280
Watch the pruners.

660
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:29,280
That escalated quickly.

661
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:34,120
I mean, that really got out of hand fast.

662
00:42:34,120 --> 00:42:41,880
Well, you know, Kelly, I mean, I guess you know how to make an entrance.

663
00:42:41,880 --> 00:42:42,880
Well, there we go.

664
00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:44,760
That's the, I jumped right in there.

665
00:42:44,760 --> 00:42:45,760
Didn't I?

666
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:46,760
You did.

667
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:52,640
Oh, I'm going to keep my comments to a minimum from here on out.

668
00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:54,200
Oh my goodness.

669
00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:55,200
All right.

670
00:42:55,200 --> 00:43:00,440
Well, if you're not partaking in world naked gardening day and you're looking for something

671
00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:07,480
else to do that may require a shed of clothing, the farmer's market returns to market square.

672
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:11,800
Abby Stanley is teaching a container gardening course at Stanley's greenhouse.

673
00:43:11,800 --> 00:43:17,160
She'll be with us next weekend to talk last minute Mother's Day gift ideas.

674
00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:22,680
And you could join me to watch our Lady Vols softball team host South Carolina first pitches

675
00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:24,240
at noon today.

676
00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:29,880
We have one game one and we're looking to rally and sweep this baby out for a complete

677
00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:31,320
list of events around town.

678
00:43:31,320 --> 00:43:33,200
Go to visit Knoxville.com.

679
00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:36,000
That's visit Knoxville.com.

680
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:41,800
My next guest represents a nonprofit organization has been partnering with Knox County families

681
00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:47,160
for nearly 40 years to help them find affordable and secure housing.

682
00:43:47,160 --> 00:43:52,200
She is the president and CEO of Knoxville habitat for humanity.

683
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:54,240
Welcome to the show, Kelly.

684
00:43:54,240 --> 00:43:55,240
Good morning.

685
00:43:55,240 --> 00:43:56,240
Good morning.

686
00:43:56,240 --> 00:43:57,240
Thank you for having me.

687
00:43:57,240 --> 00:43:59,520
Well, it's very exciting to be back here.

688
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:01,920
And to see all this Tennessee on.

689
00:44:01,920 --> 00:44:04,920
I think that's so totally support Tennessee.

690
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:10,000
For those of y'all who don't see what I see, Scott is from head to toe in orange and blue

691
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:11,000
right now.

692
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:15,560
Well, I may be a little parcel of my Lady Vols.

693
00:44:15,560 --> 00:44:17,040
You know, we are my company.

694
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:22,520
I'm happy to say we are a corporate sponsor of our Lady Vol Boost Her Club, which is the

695
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:26,840
initiative that supports our female student athletes.

696
00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:28,760
And well, as a dad of two girls.

697
00:44:28,760 --> 00:44:36,520
Let me just tell you, I have two, two little assly girls and you know, I think for me and

698
00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:39,240
I digress real fast and I'll wrap this up.

699
00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:47,160
But for me, my little girl was forced into playing basically co-ed sports and she was

700
00:44:47,160 --> 00:44:49,480
better than most of the boys on the team.

701
00:44:49,480 --> 00:44:55,680
But yet, you know, being who she was in her stature, it wasn't always accommodating for

702
00:44:55,680 --> 00:44:59,240
her to be a part of co-ed sports.

703
00:44:59,240 --> 00:45:06,280
And so we are, we are big fans of our CBFO softball league over here in Farragut.

704
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:13,680
And, and just my wife and I have turned into huge proponents for our Lady athletes.

705
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:21,040
And I mean, I'm just, I just can't say enough about what some of our organizations do to

706
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:22,800
help support our Lady Vols.

707
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:26,880
They're just really, really blessed in Knoxville to have just continuing support of the Orange

708
00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:27,880
across the board.

709
00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:28,880
You got that right.

710
00:45:28,880 --> 00:45:36,000
You know, Lady Vols and men's sports and all sports where we are a truly, truly a team

711
00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,680
that run, I mean a city that runs Orange and a city of volunteers.

712
00:45:39,680 --> 00:45:41,280
Thank heavens for us at Habitat.

713
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:42,280
We need them.

714
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:44,080
You're absolutely right.

715
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:45,080
See.

716
00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:48,640
So Knoxville Habitat for Humanity been around since 1985.

717
00:45:48,640 --> 00:45:49,640
Yes.

718
00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:51,360
How long have you been here?

719
00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:52,360
A while.

720
00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:58,480
I got, now this is, this is the thing when I say it, you're supposed to go no way.

721
00:45:58,480 --> 00:45:59,480
Yeah.

722
00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:01,720
In September, it will be 29 years.

723
00:46:01,720 --> 00:46:02,720
Wow.

724
00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:03,720
Yeah.

725
00:46:03,720 --> 00:46:04,720
So I started when I was five.

726
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:05,720
Yeah.

727
00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:06,720
Are you sure?

728
00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:10,080
I, yeah, I'm going to say you must have started at least at one.

729
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:11,080
Oh gosh.

730
00:46:11,080 --> 00:46:12,080
Yes.

731
00:46:12,080 --> 00:46:13,080
Yes.

732
00:46:13,080 --> 00:46:14,080
I'll pay you later.

733
00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:15,080
Oh.

734
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:16,080
Yes.

735
00:46:16,080 --> 00:46:17,080
I've been around a long time.

736
00:46:17,080 --> 00:46:22,920
I started with Knoxville Habitat, we were building our 48th house.

737
00:46:22,920 --> 00:46:23,920
Wow.

738
00:46:23,920 --> 00:46:26,320
And, and we're, we just served Knox County.

739
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:29,960
I mean just served, but Knox County is a large county, but there are surrounding affiliates

740
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:30,960
around us.

741
00:46:30,960 --> 00:46:32,720
So we are in Knox County.

742
00:46:32,720 --> 00:46:41,720
And right now we're, we're in the, anywhere between, I think we're around 670 homes that

743
00:46:41,720 --> 00:46:43,120
we have built.

744
00:46:43,120 --> 00:46:45,200
We've got sold.

745
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:46,200
That's amazing.

746
00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:53,080
And just to think that you have been helping families for 29 years.

747
00:46:53,080 --> 00:46:56,960
I mean that, that is, that's remarkable, remarkable in itself.

748
00:46:56,960 --> 00:47:03,160
Well, you're very kind Scott, but I'm very quick to say, I just lead the effort.

749
00:47:03,160 --> 00:47:04,440
I'm not the one doing it.

750
00:47:04,440 --> 00:47:05,880
You don't want to see me with a hammer.

751
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:08,080
You don't want to see me with a paintbrush.

752
00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:13,840
You know, I've got an incredible, this organization has an incredible staff that lead our work

753
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:16,720
and do the, do the leading and, and take care of everything.

754
00:47:16,720 --> 00:47:21,440
I just get to come and talk to you and get out in the community and talk about all the

755
00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:22,440
good things they're doing.

756
00:47:22,440 --> 00:47:23,640
Well, you know what?

757
00:47:23,640 --> 00:47:28,160
Just like when I talk with my, my little girl's softball team, right?

758
00:47:28,160 --> 00:47:36,320
We talk about how it is a team sport and everybody has to be their piece of the puzzle and not

759
00:47:36,320 --> 00:47:41,040
every piece does the same thing, but every piece is necessary to make the picture.

760
00:47:41,040 --> 00:47:42,040
So see there.

761
00:47:42,040 --> 00:47:44,520
Well, I use the pie.

762
00:47:44,520 --> 00:47:49,120
Everybody in there has a slice of pie, but with all the pieces hit together in the middle.

763
00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:50,120
Yeah.

764
00:47:50,120 --> 00:47:51,120
Well, there you go.

765
00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:55,160
Well, so we're going to take a bite out of your pie here.

766
00:47:55,160 --> 00:48:00,600
So you're building what your fourth neighborhood in Oksa.

767
00:48:00,600 --> 00:48:01,600
Yes.

768
00:48:01,600 --> 00:48:03,320
We have a neighborhood we're doing right now in strawberry plains.

769
00:48:03,320 --> 00:48:07,640
Actually, right after this, I'm going to go do a house dedication, which is the most

770
00:48:07,640 --> 00:48:13,240
incredible experience ever because it's where we actually celebrate the completion of the

771
00:48:13,240 --> 00:48:19,040
home and we celebrate with a family that the structure that has been built with a community

772
00:48:19,040 --> 00:48:24,440
support and with a partner family is going to become a house.

773
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:29,760
In the next couple of weeks, they will sign the deed and they will start paying for that

774
00:48:29,760 --> 00:48:36,360
house, usually 25 year mortgage and we'll then take that money that they're paying into

775
00:48:36,360 --> 00:48:39,040
that and put it into building more homes.

776
00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:40,040
That's amazing.

777
00:48:40,040 --> 00:48:41,040
That is amazing.

778
00:48:41,040 --> 00:48:45,320
Well, and of course, if you're not familiar with habitat for humanity, Kelly's going to

779
00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:47,000
help tell us a little bit about it.

780
00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:51,320
But you know, one of the things that I think most of us are aware of is that you require

781
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:52,800
some sweat equity.

782
00:48:52,800 --> 00:48:54,560
All the families have to be partners.

783
00:48:54,560 --> 00:48:57,160
I mean, truly it is a partnership in everything that we do.

784
00:48:57,160 --> 00:48:59,760
We're not giving anything away, which is something I'm real proud of.

785
00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:01,360
There is ownership.

786
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:09,800
So the donor, the volunteer, the family, our organization, we all are invested in this

787
00:49:09,800 --> 00:49:13,280
opportunity to enhance someone's life.

788
00:49:13,280 --> 00:49:15,920
Families have to qualify to be part of the program.

789
00:49:15,920 --> 00:49:22,080
And right now, the very first basic is just essentially financial ability.

790
00:49:22,080 --> 00:49:24,240
Every family, we don't want anyone up for failure.

791
00:49:24,240 --> 00:49:28,640
So every family has to be able to make the monthly mortgage payment that also has escrow

792
00:49:28,640 --> 00:49:30,920
and taxes and insurance.

793
00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:36,080
And that cannot be more than 25% of their monthly income.

794
00:49:36,080 --> 00:49:38,600
So that's what we're looking at first.

795
00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:44,040
And then once that they are approved, we get in and they have to come to classes.

796
00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:48,960
We have budget classes that families have to partake in and be part of for a year.

797
00:49:48,960 --> 00:49:50,440
Learning really how to manage their money.

798
00:49:50,440 --> 00:49:51,440
It's their money.

799
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:53,600
We're not going to tell them how to spend it.

800
00:49:53,600 --> 00:50:00,040
But we want to equip them with the decision-making skills to be able to make those decisions

801
00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:01,040
moving on down the line.

802
00:50:01,040 --> 00:50:06,160
Because once that house is deeded to them, it's theirs, just like everybody else's mortgage.

803
00:50:06,160 --> 00:50:09,640
But this is the opportunity and time for us to teach and train.

804
00:50:09,640 --> 00:50:13,600
And a lot of the families that partner with us have never had that opportunity or anybody

805
00:50:13,600 --> 00:50:16,800
to put that kind of trust in them.

806
00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:19,680
There's also landscaping classes.

807
00:50:19,680 --> 00:50:23,200
Once they're in their home, there are home maintenance classes.

808
00:50:23,200 --> 00:50:27,520
So we teach people how to do simple home maintenance around their house.

809
00:50:27,520 --> 00:50:33,960
We do have warranties like any homeowner for the first year on certain things.

810
00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:38,920
But other things, if you're toilet sticks, you got to learn to fix it.

811
00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:41,920
And certain that we have classes and we teach that.

812
00:50:41,920 --> 00:50:46,320
We have some other like how to be a good neighbor class and how to...

813
00:50:46,320 --> 00:50:48,520
Is that open to anybody?

814
00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:51,320
I might have a few recommendations.

815
00:50:51,320 --> 00:50:52,320
Well, yeah.

816
00:50:52,320 --> 00:50:57,160
Well, the budget class is truly the class that is required.

817
00:50:57,160 --> 00:51:00,160
The others are highly, highly, highly encouraged.

818
00:51:00,160 --> 00:51:02,880
And you get sweat equity for all of those classes.

819
00:51:02,880 --> 00:51:06,680
So the homeowner does have to participate and be part of the program.

820
00:51:06,680 --> 00:51:09,400
And then they will select a lot that we have on the listing.

821
00:51:09,400 --> 00:51:15,080
And right now we are only building in Ellen's Glen, which was named after our founder, Sis

822
00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:16,080
Mitchell.

823
00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:19,400
And it is out on strawberry plains out there.

824
00:51:19,400 --> 00:51:20,760
And they're beautiful homes.

825
00:51:20,760 --> 00:51:24,800
Oh my God, I encourage anybody to drop through out there and see Ellen's Glen.

826
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:25,800
It really is pretty.

827
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:26,800
That's amazing.

828
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:32,480
And that's one of the things, obviously, that I just love about what you guys do is that,

829
00:51:32,480 --> 00:51:33,480
you know, it is...

830
00:51:33,480 --> 00:51:34,880
It's an educational process.

831
00:51:34,880 --> 00:51:36,400
You are really...

832
00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:42,480
You are so fundamentally changing the landscape and the lives of these individuals by helping

833
00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:44,480
prepare them.

834
00:51:44,480 --> 00:51:50,520
You know, again, many of us may not have had that education and the budget friendly and

835
00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:52,760
knowing what to do and how to do it.

836
00:51:52,760 --> 00:52:00,520
And so you guys are just...you're paving the way for quite frankly, life-changing experiences

837
00:52:00,520 --> 00:52:03,000
for all of those to come.

838
00:52:03,000 --> 00:52:05,680
We are going to take a short break right here.

839
00:52:05,680 --> 00:52:12,960
If you've got questions or comments, give us a call or text, 865-656-8255.

840
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:14,960
We'll be right back here out around the house.

841
00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:21,960
Newstalk 987-WOKI.

842
00:52:21,960 --> 00:52:25,960
Welcome back to Around the House.

843
00:52:25,960 --> 00:52:32,200
I am speaking with Kelly Schultz from Habitat for Humanity.

844
00:52:32,200 --> 00:52:40,200
And well, if you just need to learn what you can do to help out in your community, we got

845
00:52:40,200 --> 00:52:42,200
a great way for you here.

846
00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:46,080
Kelly, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

847
00:52:46,080 --> 00:52:52,640
I just talk our listeners through and talk me through because I think there's a lot of

848
00:52:52,640 --> 00:52:54,440
misconceptions about what you guys do.

849
00:52:54,440 --> 00:53:01,120
But what's that process like for you guys, for a family who is in need or is coming into

850
00:53:01,120 --> 00:53:03,280
your program, walk us through that process?

851
00:53:03,280 --> 00:53:05,880
Well, I'll tell you too, Scott, right now it's tough.

852
00:53:05,880 --> 00:53:11,960
It is tough because there's such need in our community for home ownership, for safe shelter,

853
00:53:11,960 --> 00:53:14,680
and rents are even so high.

854
00:53:14,680 --> 00:53:16,520
But you can only do so much.

855
00:53:16,520 --> 00:53:24,040
So it's really been heartbreaking the past couple of years what we can do because of

856
00:53:24,040 --> 00:53:26,160
just extreme costs.

857
00:53:26,160 --> 00:53:31,920
But with a family, they would apply for the program, but we were not taking any more applications

858
00:53:31,920 --> 00:53:33,960
for this year, sadly to say.

859
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:38,280
We filled that up that we had such just need.

860
00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:42,200
And we don't want to set anybody up to sit and wait and wait and wait.

861
00:53:42,200 --> 00:53:46,080
So we, but families come into the program.

862
00:53:46,080 --> 00:53:52,360
They are based, like I said, mostly right off the bat from income, being able to make

863
00:53:52,360 --> 00:53:53,360
the payment.

864
00:53:53,360 --> 00:53:54,360
Right.

865
00:53:54,360 --> 00:53:58,760
And then once they can, we do see that they have the financial capabilities to make a

866
00:53:58,760 --> 00:54:03,520
mortgage payment and escrow with their monthly salary.

867
00:54:03,520 --> 00:54:06,000
Then they come in the program, they take the classes.

868
00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:07,440
Then they will select a lot.

869
00:54:07,440 --> 00:54:11,520
Again, right now we're building in this neighborhood.

870
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:16,480
And once we get to that point, we will start their house.

871
00:54:16,480 --> 00:54:19,960
We build three, four and five bedroom homes.

872
00:54:19,960 --> 00:54:22,160
Families do not get to select their size.

873
00:54:22,160 --> 00:54:27,720
It's really based on criteria from Habitat International with children and gender and

874
00:54:27,720 --> 00:54:28,840
so forth.

875
00:54:28,840 --> 00:54:33,560
And then again, as you know, I mean, a five bedroom home takes a larger lot.

876
00:54:33,560 --> 00:54:37,920
And so we also don't get to build a lot of those just based on economics.

877
00:54:37,920 --> 00:54:40,480
We don't have a lot of that space for them.

878
00:54:40,480 --> 00:54:42,960
So most of the homes we build are three and four bedroom.

879
00:54:42,960 --> 00:54:47,920
They're about anywhere between 1400 and 1800 square feet.

880
00:54:47,920 --> 00:54:53,400
The homes we're building in Ellen's Glen do have a garage, one car garage.

881
00:54:53,400 --> 00:54:56,280
And they have sidewalks and underground utilities.

882
00:54:56,280 --> 00:55:01,120
We were very blessed to have a partnership with Knox County that provided some infrastructure

883
00:55:01,120 --> 00:55:03,360
money to help us do that.

884
00:55:03,360 --> 00:55:07,280
And it truly is a neighborhood as we're taking, you know, as you go out there and drive around

885
00:55:07,280 --> 00:55:09,160
and how we're doing the houses.

886
00:55:09,160 --> 00:55:18,720
The families then will purchase the home at a 25 to 30 year mortgage and we hold the notes.

887
00:55:18,720 --> 00:55:20,720
So we are our own guarantee.

888
00:55:20,720 --> 00:55:25,800
So we also are the ones that we do our mortgages there with someone who does that and they

889
00:55:25,800 --> 00:55:29,240
will make the monthly mortgage payments, you know, to us.

890
00:55:29,240 --> 00:55:34,720
And again, if they get behind like I'm not, they get a letter and, you know, the great

891
00:55:34,720 --> 00:55:37,120
thing is, is with us holding that.

892
00:55:37,120 --> 00:55:43,240
We know life sometimes gets in the way and we will provide the opportunity one time in

893
00:55:43,240 --> 00:55:44,240
the, hello.

894
00:55:44,240 --> 00:55:48,440
Hey, that was pretty cool.

895
00:55:48,440 --> 00:55:50,240
Okay.

896
00:55:50,240 --> 00:55:52,280
Our electricity went out.

897
00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:53,280
Woohoo.

898
00:55:53,280 --> 00:55:56,280
That was quick though, that generator.

899
00:55:56,280 --> 00:56:04,000
So we still, we will provide the opportunity for them to have a one time, you know, like

900
00:56:04,000 --> 00:56:08,920
hiccup in life and we will assess that at the end of the mortgage because we hold that.

901
00:56:08,920 --> 00:56:10,880
But it has to be something extreme.

902
00:56:10,880 --> 00:56:14,320
They have to come up with another payment plan and so forth.

903
00:56:14,320 --> 00:56:17,800
But we need that income to help build more homes.

904
00:56:17,800 --> 00:56:25,240
So this year we'll do about 12 homes and it's 12 families that are going to get the

905
00:56:25,240 --> 00:56:26,240
dream.

906
00:56:26,240 --> 00:56:27,240
I wish it was so much more.

907
00:56:27,240 --> 00:56:28,240
It's just so costly.

908
00:56:28,240 --> 00:56:29,240
Right.

909
00:56:29,240 --> 00:56:33,960
I mean, we were just talking about that construction costs have gone up at least 30%.

910
00:56:33,960 --> 00:56:40,840
Over the past couple of years for us and we can only, we can only build so many because

911
00:56:40,840 --> 00:56:42,360
we can't continue.

912
00:56:42,360 --> 00:56:45,560
You can't pass all of that onto the family or it's not affordable.

913
00:56:45,560 --> 00:56:46,560
Right.

914
00:56:46,560 --> 00:56:52,120
So I'm going to just, I just want to ask, so how long have you guys taken on that model

915
00:56:52,120 --> 00:56:54,880
of building the community?

916
00:56:54,880 --> 00:56:58,280
This is our fourth subdivision.

917
00:56:58,280 --> 00:57:01,400
We like to do infill in the city.

918
00:57:01,400 --> 00:57:08,360
I think it's just such the basis and the, and the really the crux of our ministry to

919
00:57:08,360 --> 00:57:12,400
go in and plant new families in established neighborhoods.

920
00:57:12,400 --> 00:57:15,800
Right now that's just not an opportunity for us.

921
00:57:15,800 --> 00:57:21,720
So this neighborhood that we're doing is providing us to be able to plant 35 families

922
00:57:21,720 --> 00:57:26,240
together to do, you know, community together there.

923
00:57:26,240 --> 00:57:27,640
And we're excited about that.

924
00:57:27,640 --> 00:57:31,600
We actually have another piece of property that's very close to this one that we'll be

925
00:57:31,600 --> 00:57:37,640
looking at and probably starting in either the end of 2024, the beginning of 2025.

926
00:57:37,640 --> 00:57:40,280
Well, and that's, that's just amazing.

927
00:57:40,280 --> 00:57:42,520
And I mean, look, I don't care.

928
00:57:42,520 --> 00:57:44,880
I don't care where or how you can build it.

929
00:57:44,880 --> 00:57:46,640
You're building it and that's what's important.

930
00:57:46,640 --> 00:57:47,640
Well, it's tough.

931
00:57:47,640 --> 00:57:52,480
And I mean, the thing is, is right now housing is just in such a need and there's a lot of

932
00:57:52,480 --> 00:57:55,480
opportunity out there for rental.

933
00:57:55,480 --> 00:57:58,720
It's still expensive, but there's not a lot for home ownership.

934
00:57:58,720 --> 00:58:01,640
There's very, very, very few of us doing that.

935
00:58:01,640 --> 00:58:06,400
And we just, we need to make sure that we're taking care of folks in our own community.

936
00:58:06,400 --> 00:58:07,400
Right.

937
00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:08,400
Yeah.

938
00:58:08,400 --> 00:58:11,360
Well, and there's, you know, I mean, the reality of it is when things come available, even

939
00:58:11,360 --> 00:58:17,160
those, those lots that are infill lots, I mean, when them things come available, they

940
00:58:17,160 --> 00:58:21,960
just, they go at ridiculous prices and, and then there's, it's always seems to be a bidding

941
00:58:21,960 --> 00:58:23,800
warning more on, on anything.

942
00:58:23,800 --> 00:58:27,240
An average cost of a starter home is right around 300,000.

943
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:28,240
Yeah.

944
00:58:28,240 --> 00:58:29,240
A starter home.

945
00:58:29,240 --> 00:58:30,240
Wow.

946
00:58:30,240 --> 00:58:31,240
Yeah.

947
00:58:31,240 --> 00:58:32,240
I couldn't afford it.

948
00:58:32,240 --> 00:58:33,240
I couldn't have afforded that.

949
00:58:33,240 --> 00:58:34,920
I mean, seriously, it's, it's tough.

950
00:58:34,920 --> 00:58:36,800
I mean, and, and that's just heartbreaking.

951
00:58:36,800 --> 00:58:41,800
And we're, you know, I just want to make sure that we're taking care of the community and

952
00:58:41,800 --> 00:58:45,720
the families and the folks so that they stay here and Knoxville continues to be the great

953
00:58:45,720 --> 00:58:46,720
place that it is.

954
00:58:46,720 --> 00:58:47,720
Right.

955
00:58:47,720 --> 00:58:52,280
Well, in order for you guys to do that, it takes a lot of help and a lot of support.

956
00:58:52,280 --> 00:58:56,480
And as you alluded early on, a lot of volunteers, it does take volunteers.

957
00:58:56,480 --> 00:58:59,320
Our homes are built with volunteers.

958
00:58:59,320 --> 00:59:01,000
And that really is the crux of what we do.

959
00:59:01,000 --> 00:59:03,840
It's volunteers that teach our classes.

960
00:59:03,840 --> 00:59:07,200
And sadly, volunteerism has been down the past couple of years.

961
00:59:07,200 --> 00:59:11,520
And then, and I just, and I'm not, we're not real sure why that is.

962
00:59:11,520 --> 00:59:12,520
It's actually nationwide.

963
00:59:12,520 --> 00:59:18,520
There's some studies that are out about that, but it is, it's down and that's caused some

964
00:59:18,520 --> 00:59:21,200
issues for us because if we don't have the volunteers out there, then we have to pay

965
00:59:21,200 --> 00:59:22,760
subs to do it.

966
00:59:22,760 --> 00:59:24,480
And then the cost of the house goes up more.

967
00:59:24,480 --> 00:59:28,680
So, but we have volunteers, we have a restore and we use volunteers there.

968
00:59:28,680 --> 00:59:31,120
We have volunteers in our classes.

969
00:59:31,120 --> 00:59:35,040
We have the established volunteers that worked in the week to help catch up from build to

970
00:59:35,040 --> 00:59:36,040
build.

971
00:59:36,040 --> 00:59:37,880
And then we have our Saturday volunteers out building.

972
00:59:37,880 --> 00:59:38,880
Yeah.

973
00:59:38,880 --> 00:59:43,200
So what's the best way to get in touch with you guys to be able to volunteer?

974
00:59:43,200 --> 00:59:44,320
It's to go to our website.

975
00:59:44,320 --> 00:59:49,320
We actually have a whole little portal, you know, we've gotten very sophisticated.

976
00:59:49,320 --> 00:59:53,880
We have a whole little portal for you sign up to be a volunteer so that, and it tells

977
00:59:53,880 --> 00:59:57,440
you all the opportunities that we have and it allows you to do it how you want to.

978
00:59:57,440 --> 01:00:02,280
And we, we would love to have you on a Saturday and you can pick your Saturday.

979
01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:07,840
You just got to be willing to, you know, do whatever it is that's needed or if you want

980
01:00:07,840 --> 01:00:11,440
to do something specific, then you've got to be a little more flexible on your days.

981
01:00:11,440 --> 01:00:16,440
So go to Knoxville Habitat for Humanity dot com.

982
01:00:16,440 --> 01:00:22,560
And, uh, you know, go look for that volunteer portal, get yourself signed up, find ways

983
01:00:22,560 --> 01:00:24,320
to give back to our community.

984
01:00:24,320 --> 01:00:29,160
Uh, there's, I mean, there's always so many opportunities to give back to our communities

985
01:00:29,160 --> 01:00:34,840
and, and I, many that know me, I am, uh, I love getting, giving back.

986
01:00:34,840 --> 01:00:38,920
I love being able to give back to our community in whatever way I can.

987
01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:43,120
Um, and so I love your passion and I appreciate it.

988
01:00:43,120 --> 01:00:50,880
Um, and so I love your passion and I enjoy just the desire that you have to give back.

989
01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:56,760
Um, so what are some of the biggest needs that you guys are facing right now?

990
01:00:56,760 --> 01:00:58,920
You, you briefly touched on it.

991
01:00:58,920 --> 01:01:01,120
Volunteers, volunteers are one.

992
01:01:01,120 --> 01:01:07,840
We also, um, we, we're in kind of a new space with us, with some, a little bit of funding

993
01:01:07,840 --> 01:01:11,320
that we've received and we're in need of subcontractors.

994
01:01:11,320 --> 01:01:15,360
And so we're also putting that big plea out that we have a bid room on our website to

995
01:01:15,360 --> 01:01:19,840
go in and bid for, for different things that we need for, and we need some contractors.

996
01:01:19,840 --> 01:01:22,600
So I would love to engage, get engaged.

997
01:01:22,600 --> 01:01:26,680
Some folks that might be listening to this today to go in and look at that and come be

998
01:01:26,680 --> 01:01:27,680
part of the work.

999
01:01:27,680 --> 01:01:28,960
I mean, it's paid.

1000
01:01:28,960 --> 01:01:29,960
We're going to pay you.

1001
01:01:29,960 --> 01:01:30,960
It's not volunteered.

1002
01:01:30,960 --> 01:01:33,720
Uh, you don't have to donate, um, for that.

1003
01:01:33,720 --> 01:01:38,000
And then the other thing to just to put out is it is getting ready to be summertime and

1004
01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:41,480
a lot of folks are going to have kids that don't have much to do and we would love to

1005
01:01:41,480 --> 01:01:43,560
have them come and volunteer with us.

1006
01:01:43,560 --> 01:01:46,080
You have to be 16 to work on a job site.

1007
01:01:46,080 --> 01:01:52,080
Um, but we also, you know, can, in driving helps, I think, but we would love, you know,

1008
01:01:52,080 --> 01:01:56,680
if somebody wants to pull a group together, I mean, it can be your Sunday school class.

1009
01:01:56,680 --> 01:01:58,680
It can be your bunco class.

1010
01:01:58,680 --> 01:02:03,600
It can be your poker group, whatever, um, to come and come out and work with us to do

1011
01:02:03,600 --> 01:02:04,600
that.

1012
01:02:04,600 --> 01:02:08,040
It's another great way that we can, um, involve the community.

1013
01:02:08,040 --> 01:02:09,840
And then the other is we do have a restore.

1014
01:02:09,840 --> 01:02:16,800
Our restore is located in downtown West and it is all, I mean, we have purchased some

1015
01:02:16,800 --> 01:02:17,800
new items.

1016
01:02:17,800 --> 01:02:21,000
You certainly need to come by there and look at some of the things that, um, that we have

1017
01:02:21,000 --> 01:02:23,400
purchased, but the majority of it is all donated material.

1018
01:02:23,400 --> 01:02:27,600
So two, when it's getting a little warmer and you've got that extra time and you're

1019
01:02:27,600 --> 01:02:30,400
cleaning out, think of us to donate your items to.

1020
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:39,200
Well, in, in really the items that you guys have in the store are, I mean, it covers everything.

1021
01:02:39,200 --> 01:02:40,200
We actually do.

1022
01:02:40,200 --> 01:02:43,360
We have clothing, very few habitat restores have clothing.

1023
01:02:43,360 --> 01:02:47,880
There are restores in surrounding counties around us, but we do have clothing and then

1024
01:02:47,880 --> 01:02:51,800
probably two thirds of our store is construction related.

1025
01:02:51,800 --> 01:02:52,800
Right.

1026
01:02:52,800 --> 01:02:58,360
Windows and doors and cabinets and flooring and rugs and knobs and hinges and everything.

1027
01:02:58,360 --> 01:02:59,360
Exactly.

1028
01:02:59,360 --> 01:03:02,320
And it, it's, if you're going there looking for something specific, you're probably not

1029
01:03:02,320 --> 01:03:03,320
going to find it.

1030
01:03:03,320 --> 01:03:06,560
And if you're going in there looking just to browse, you'll probably find everything

1031
01:03:06,560 --> 01:03:09,440
that you need that you didn't know you needed.

1032
01:03:09,440 --> 01:03:14,200
But we have furniture and, you know, knickknacks and chotchkees and things like that too.

1033
01:03:14,200 --> 01:03:16,920
And all of that goes back into the ministry.

1034
01:03:16,920 --> 01:03:17,920
Yeah.

1035
01:03:17,920 --> 01:03:21,520
Well, and I found myself doing some shopping there.

1036
01:03:21,520 --> 01:03:22,680
Thank you, Scott.

1037
01:03:22,680 --> 01:03:23,680
We appreciate it.

1038
01:03:23,680 --> 01:03:24,680
Yeah.

1039
01:03:24,680 --> 01:03:27,480
Well, I was looking for kind of a unique part.

1040
01:03:27,480 --> 01:03:33,520
And then it was from not really a super old home, but it was a 20 year old home.

1041
01:03:33,520 --> 01:03:37,960
And somebody suggested, well, just go browse by, check out the restore.

1042
01:03:37,960 --> 01:03:42,640
Because a lot of times when people go in and they got and do remodels, if it's in good

1043
01:03:42,640 --> 01:03:44,640
condition, they'll donate it.

1044
01:03:44,640 --> 01:03:49,400
And a lot of times it may find its way into one of your stores or into your store.

1045
01:03:49,400 --> 01:03:54,760
And so I went to took a look and by golly, I actually found what I needed.

1046
01:03:54,760 --> 01:03:55,760
Did you really?

1047
01:03:55,760 --> 01:03:56,760
Wow.

1048
01:03:56,760 --> 01:04:00,040
I think it's one of the rare few that go in looking for something and find what they

1049
01:04:00,040 --> 01:04:01,040
want.

1050
01:04:01,040 --> 01:04:03,960
I know, but I did find many replacements in case I didn't find it.

1051
01:04:03,960 --> 01:04:08,240
So just very unique store and just so cool.

1052
01:04:08,240 --> 01:04:12,920
I mean, just going in browsing and checking out is just, it's worth the trip.

1053
01:04:12,920 --> 01:04:15,120
It just is worth the trip.

1054
01:04:15,120 --> 01:04:16,720
We are going to take a quick break.

1055
01:04:16,720 --> 01:04:20,800
I'm going to come back and continue speaking with Kelly Schultz, talking about habitat

1056
01:04:20,800 --> 01:04:22,400
for humanity.

1057
01:04:22,400 --> 01:04:27,520
And quite frankly, we're going to talk about what you need to do to get involved.

1058
01:04:27,520 --> 01:04:31,720
We've told you where to go to get involved, but we need you, right?

1059
01:04:31,720 --> 01:04:34,400
We're even better than the army because we're right here locally.

1060
01:04:34,400 --> 01:04:36,280
So stay tuned.

1061
01:04:36,280 --> 01:04:37,280
Come back and check us out.

1062
01:04:37,280 --> 01:04:47,920
We're going to take a short break on around the house right here on News Talk 987 WOKI.

1063
01:04:47,920 --> 01:04:50,640
Welcome back to around the house.

1064
01:04:50,640 --> 01:04:57,240
If you have questions about how you can help habitat for humanity, or maybe you just have

1065
01:04:57,240 --> 01:05:02,800
a question in general that you would like to ask Kelly, she's really good on her toes.

1066
01:05:02,800 --> 01:05:04,880
She'll answer any of those questions you have.

1067
01:05:04,880 --> 01:05:09,240
865-656-8255.

1068
01:05:09,240 --> 01:05:14,440
As long as it's not about World Naked Gardening Day, I think we're in good shape.

1069
01:05:14,440 --> 01:05:17,960
Kelly, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

1070
01:05:17,960 --> 01:05:22,120
I just am so, we do have a gardening class with families.

1071
01:05:22,120 --> 01:05:25,400
We work with the master gardeners of Knoxville, and they come out.

1072
01:05:25,400 --> 01:05:26,920
We have a program called Hugg.

1073
01:05:26,920 --> 01:05:28,800
Yes, I'm aware of that program.

1074
01:05:28,800 --> 01:05:30,840
Which is Habitat Urban Gardens.

1075
01:05:30,840 --> 01:05:33,000
Yes, don't do that during Naked Gardening Day.

1076
01:05:33,000 --> 01:05:34,000
Exactly.

1077
01:05:34,000 --> 01:05:38,480
I'm just sitting here thinking that I'm like, oh my gosh, we need to make sure that we're

1078
01:05:38,480 --> 01:05:43,080
safe today, but we just need to make sure that doesn't happen.

1079
01:05:43,080 --> 01:05:47,040
That might be something we don't want to see.

1080
01:05:47,040 --> 01:05:55,480
We need to ask those professionals, if they're aware of World Naked Gardening Day.

1081
01:05:55,480 --> 01:05:58,200
World Naked National Garden Day.

1082
01:05:58,200 --> 01:06:01,720
I know I mixed it up, but yeah, we do need to ask them that.

1083
01:06:01,720 --> 01:06:03,280
It's worldwide.

1084
01:06:03,280 --> 01:06:06,120
I mean, worldwide.

1085
01:06:06,120 --> 01:06:11,680
I didn't know the passion to garden naked was so strong in our world today.

1086
01:06:11,680 --> 01:06:14,240
You don't have a lot of laundry to do.

1087
01:06:14,240 --> 01:06:16,240
This is very true.

1088
01:06:16,240 --> 01:06:24,200
So besides gardening, you guys, you can't do what you do without a lot of help.

1089
01:06:24,200 --> 01:06:26,720
We have to have help to do what it is that we do.

1090
01:06:26,720 --> 01:06:28,680
You have a lot of opportunities for that.

1091
01:06:28,680 --> 01:06:32,800
Corporate sponsorships, just volunteers to help do builds.

1092
01:06:32,800 --> 01:06:33,800
That's exactly right.

1093
01:06:33,800 --> 01:06:40,320
The way we currently fund and build the homes is with a corporate sponsor or church or business.

1094
01:06:40,320 --> 01:06:42,320
We call them a covenant partner.

1095
01:06:42,320 --> 01:06:47,960
That is that someone comes in and says, okay, we're going to partner with you on this home.

1096
01:06:47,960 --> 01:06:56,160
We will bring volunteers out for anywhere between four and eight workdays, depending

1097
01:06:56,160 --> 01:07:01,080
on the house and depending on getting all of the inspections and different things like

1098
01:07:01,080 --> 01:07:02,080
that done.

1099
01:07:02,080 --> 01:07:06,640
We have a plan there and you will work alongside with the family, getting to know the family

1100
01:07:06,640 --> 01:07:10,040
and building this house with them.

1101
01:07:10,040 --> 01:07:13,680
And that right now, a sponsorship cost is $55,000.

1102
01:07:13,680 --> 01:07:19,200
And that's about, I used to say it, and that's about a fourth of the cost of the house right

1103
01:07:19,200 --> 01:07:20,640
now.

1104
01:07:20,640 --> 01:07:25,600
And then we match those costs with grants and with homeowners making them mortgage payments

1105
01:07:25,600 --> 01:07:34,440
and donations and other just fundraising things that we do to be able to cover the hard cost

1106
01:07:34,440 --> 01:07:36,560
of that home.

1107
01:07:36,560 --> 01:07:38,280
But it's $55,000.

1108
01:07:38,280 --> 01:07:43,360
We have some organizations and churches that will take that on themselves.

1109
01:07:43,360 --> 01:07:48,920
I just, I have to give a big shout out to home federal bank who has been the longest

1110
01:07:48,920 --> 01:07:52,840
standing covenant partner with us, building with us for 32 years.

1111
01:07:52,840 --> 01:07:58,520
It's actually the longest standing sponsor in the state of Tennessee, some federal bank.

1112
01:07:58,520 --> 01:08:03,480
And then I also want to give a big, big shout out to our friends over at UT in the housing

1113
01:08:03,480 --> 01:08:07,160
arena, Jerry Adams and residence halls over there.

1114
01:08:07,160 --> 01:08:10,160
They build a house with us every year and they raise their own money through the residence

1115
01:08:10,160 --> 01:08:14,640
halls, the students and the kids do fundraising and then come out and build.

1116
01:08:14,640 --> 01:08:15,640
And it's awesome.

1117
01:08:15,640 --> 01:08:16,640
That is awesome.

1118
01:08:16,640 --> 01:08:21,400
And then we've had students that have come and help that now have gone on to their corporate

1119
01:08:21,400 --> 01:08:26,080
life or their professional life and then they still come back and build with us or they've

1120
01:08:26,080 --> 01:08:28,120
gotten involved with habitats in the areas where they are.

1121
01:08:28,120 --> 01:08:30,160
So that's really great.

1122
01:08:30,160 --> 01:08:34,640
But we also recognize a lot of people right now can't fund a whole house.

1123
01:08:34,640 --> 01:08:38,240
So we put partnerships together and we'll put different groups together to come out

1124
01:08:38,240 --> 01:08:40,160
and build.

1125
01:08:40,160 --> 01:08:44,200
And it's just, it's been tougher to be able to do that.

1126
01:08:44,200 --> 01:08:45,880
But that's how we've continued to build.

1127
01:08:45,880 --> 01:08:49,520
We're looking at some other different opportunities out there, but so is everybody else.

1128
01:08:49,520 --> 01:08:50,520
Right.

1129
01:08:50,520 --> 01:08:51,520
Yeah.

1130
01:08:51,520 --> 01:08:57,880
I mean, you have to be diligent to look for the sources and the resources to be able to

1131
01:08:57,880 --> 01:09:04,120
find ways to continue to do all of these amazing things that you guys do in our communities.

1132
01:09:04,120 --> 01:09:12,200
So, I want to ask, unfortunately, I have not physically been able to partake in a build.

1133
01:09:12,200 --> 01:09:13,520
We're going to change that.

1134
01:09:13,520 --> 01:09:14,960
So, supple season's over.

1135
01:09:14,960 --> 01:09:16,640
Well, Scott, you're on it.

1136
01:09:16,640 --> 01:09:22,760
I have been a part financially to help support organizations.

1137
01:09:22,760 --> 01:09:28,440
But so, tell me a little bit about how that process works because like, you know, I'm

1138
01:09:28,440 --> 01:09:30,000
in new construction all the time.

1139
01:09:30,000 --> 01:09:35,480
So do you have like a general contractor of volunteers that oversees this project?

1140
01:09:35,480 --> 01:09:39,400
We have a staff of five in the construction department.

1141
01:09:39,400 --> 01:09:44,600
So we have a procurement person who procures all of our donations and all of the items

1142
01:09:44,600 --> 01:09:45,600
that we need.

1143
01:09:45,600 --> 01:09:50,480
I have an instruction supervisor that oversees all of that as well as development of new

1144
01:09:50,480 --> 01:09:52,160
subdivisions and properties.

1145
01:09:52,160 --> 01:09:54,080
And then we have folks that are in the field.

1146
01:09:54,080 --> 01:09:58,320
We have these house leaders and site leaders that are in the field overseeing things.

1147
01:09:58,320 --> 01:10:01,920
But you know, really, then we have what we call crew leaders.

1148
01:10:01,920 --> 01:10:03,840
And those are volunteers.

1149
01:10:03,840 --> 01:10:07,280
So we'll have a crew leader that will lead, that's a volunteer that will lead siding or

1150
01:10:07,280 --> 01:10:12,720
that will lead roofing or that will lead interior walls, cabinets and trim.

1151
01:10:12,720 --> 01:10:16,960
It's a volunteer that comes in, does that, and then leads the other volunteers.

1152
01:10:16,960 --> 01:10:19,800
And we are always in need of those crew leaders.

1153
01:10:19,800 --> 01:10:23,840
And really what we're wanting is we'll teach you how to do it the habitat way.

1154
01:10:23,840 --> 01:10:25,760
We're just wanting.

1155
01:10:25,760 --> 01:10:28,640
But this is the opportunity where you can't hammer it.

1156
01:10:28,640 --> 01:10:30,520
You're teaching someone how to hammer and do it.

1157
01:10:30,520 --> 01:10:32,600
You can't do it.

1158
01:10:32,600 --> 01:10:36,280
So we have folks that that's what they want to do and we'll take them as well.

1159
01:10:36,280 --> 01:10:37,280
But that's not a crew leader.

1160
01:10:37,280 --> 01:10:40,600
Crew leader is really about teaching and training.

1161
01:10:40,600 --> 01:10:48,600
Then at our restore and at, we have a crew that works in their warehouse that puts together

1162
01:10:48,600 --> 01:10:52,760
the door frames and the different things that we might need.

1163
01:10:52,760 --> 01:10:53,760
We used to do sheds.

1164
01:10:53,760 --> 01:10:58,840
We're not doing sheds now with this garage, but to build components to take to the jobs

1165
01:10:58,840 --> 01:11:01,120
that so they work in the way we have a warehouse.

1166
01:11:01,120 --> 01:11:02,120
And so we have a group.

1167
01:11:02,120 --> 01:11:05,640
Those are all volunteers, volunteers to paint.

1168
01:11:05,640 --> 01:11:11,320
We have a volunteer electrical crew that license electrician as a volunteer and, you

1169
01:11:11,320 --> 01:11:12,400
know, that does that.

1170
01:11:12,400 --> 01:11:14,320
So we have a lot of needs.

1171
01:11:14,320 --> 01:11:17,760
And if it's just something you're wanting to learn, they love to teach and train.

1172
01:11:17,760 --> 01:11:21,000
And so we invite you to come and do that as well.

1173
01:11:21,000 --> 01:11:27,120
And again, the easiest way to get involved, go to Knoxville Habitat for Humanity dot com.

1174
01:11:27,120 --> 01:11:30,400
That's Knoxville Habitat for Humanity dot com.

1175
01:11:30,400 --> 01:11:35,880
Or you can call them at 865-523-3539.

1176
01:11:35,880 --> 01:11:40,440
If you don't want to get dirty, if you don't want to build, if you don't want to do any

1177
01:11:40,440 --> 01:11:44,000
of the actual physical construction, guess what?

1178
01:11:44,000 --> 01:11:46,880
Good old fashioned money is a good place to start.

1179
01:11:46,880 --> 01:11:49,640
I'm sure you'd be happy to accept some donations with you.

1180
01:11:49,640 --> 01:11:51,080
We certainly would.

1181
01:11:51,080 --> 01:11:54,920
Another thing that if I just have a second to talk about too is there's another way that

1182
01:11:54,920 --> 01:11:56,760
you can make lasting impact.

1183
01:11:56,760 --> 01:11:59,560
And that is through your estate planning.

1184
01:11:59,560 --> 01:12:03,120
That's something that, you know, a lot of folks don't want to think about or talk about.

1185
01:12:03,120 --> 01:12:09,360
But what a lasting legacy to be able to provide the money to build a home for somebody through

1186
01:12:09,360 --> 01:12:11,280
your estate and through your will.

1187
01:12:11,280 --> 01:12:15,160
And we love to talk to you about those opportunities as well.

1188
01:12:15,160 --> 01:12:19,960
Because right now you might not have it, but, you know, possibly with your assets and things

1189
01:12:19,960 --> 01:12:20,960
that you do.

1190
01:12:20,960 --> 01:12:25,520
And, you know, that's also such a tribute to your family that you're able to do this

1191
01:12:25,520 --> 01:12:26,520
and you're doing it.

1192
01:12:26,520 --> 01:12:31,360
It's kind of a lasting memory for you to your family.

1193
01:12:31,360 --> 01:12:32,880
So think about that as well.

1194
01:12:32,880 --> 01:12:36,240
But we also would like your check or your cash right this second too.

1195
01:12:36,240 --> 01:12:40,880
Anyway, I mean, just bear change to whatever it is, bring it on in.

1196
01:12:40,880 --> 01:12:46,360
Well, you know, you mentioned to help from UT and, you know, one of the things that I

1197
01:12:46,360 --> 01:12:54,520
think is just amazing about that is that's, that's helping to nurture and grow our students

1198
01:12:54,520 --> 01:12:58,880
to think about giving back and providing for our communities.

1199
01:12:58,880 --> 01:13:05,440
And when they have that opportunity to see the difference that they make, I think to

1200
01:13:05,440 --> 01:13:10,280
me that's one of the biggest benefits that obviously you can take from there.

1201
01:13:10,280 --> 01:13:15,480
And as you mentioned, as they graduate college, they go to their professions.

1202
01:13:15,480 --> 01:13:17,840
Sometimes they give back where they're at.

1203
01:13:17,840 --> 01:13:24,960
Sometimes I'm sure they encourage their companies to be a corporate sponsor and in sponsor the

1204
01:13:24,960 --> 01:13:27,800
build of a habitat home.

1205
01:13:27,800 --> 01:13:38,120
But just being able to take part in that volunteering aspect, I know for me and for my family, one

1206
01:13:38,120 --> 01:13:45,400
of the things that is so awesome and amazing is when we know that we can actually help

1207
01:13:45,400 --> 01:13:48,400
by being able to just give back into our communities.

1208
01:13:48,400 --> 01:13:53,960
And you guys obviously are a huge resource to be able to do that.

1209
01:13:53,960 --> 01:13:59,760
So as we talked very early on in our conversation, it's about educating.

1210
01:13:59,760 --> 01:14:06,720
It's about not just educating the new homeowner you're doing the build with, but all of the

1211
01:14:06,720 --> 01:14:09,000
volunteers involved.

1212
01:14:09,000 --> 01:14:14,360
I'm sure you've probably got stories of volunteers that you have seen come back time and time

1213
01:14:14,360 --> 01:14:15,360
and have blossomed.

1214
01:14:15,360 --> 01:14:16,360
Yes.

1215
01:14:16,360 --> 01:14:17,360
Yes, absolutely.

1216
01:14:17,360 --> 01:14:21,760
And the other thing too about education is giving folks an opportunity to work alongside

1217
01:14:21,760 --> 01:14:27,520
and learn from so many different types of people that they might not cross their path.

1218
01:14:27,520 --> 01:14:32,120
You know, your neighbor is not just the person who is physically you can look out your window

1219
01:14:32,120 --> 01:14:33,840
and see next door to you.

1220
01:14:33,840 --> 01:14:38,920
Your neighbor could be across town, but it gives folks the opportunities to come and

1221
01:14:38,920 --> 01:14:45,800
work with all types of different people and forge friendships and lifetime, you know,

1222
01:14:45,800 --> 01:14:48,440
partnerships that they might not have ever had that.

1223
01:14:48,440 --> 01:14:54,600
So it too is educational and learning that teaches us that we're all not the same.

1224
01:14:54,600 --> 01:14:58,280
We're all different and hey, I can like you and you're totally different from me, but

1225
01:14:58,280 --> 01:14:59,280
I like you.

1226
01:14:59,280 --> 01:15:00,280
Right, exactly.

1227
01:15:00,280 --> 01:15:01,360
And we can work together.

1228
01:15:01,360 --> 01:15:02,360
And we can work together.

1229
01:15:02,360 --> 01:15:03,360
Yeah.

1230
01:15:03,360 --> 01:15:04,360
Exactly.

1231
01:15:04,360 --> 01:15:05,360
And only we can make a difference.

1232
01:15:05,360 --> 01:15:06,360
Yep.

1233
01:15:06,360 --> 01:15:07,360
And we can make a difference together.

1234
01:15:07,360 --> 01:15:11,040
The other thing just quickly I want to mention too is we also have a program for veterans.

1235
01:15:11,040 --> 01:15:12,040
That's also a big need.

1236
01:15:12,040 --> 01:15:18,440
We have a whole veterans program and we're actually very blessed that News Talk 98.7 is

1237
01:15:18,440 --> 01:15:23,080
a huge sponsor of our sports and clays tournament.

1238
01:15:23,080 --> 01:15:27,840
And that event goes to help support our veteran initiatives.

1239
01:15:27,840 --> 01:15:33,320
So there's a big need out there for veterans coming back that don't have housing.

1240
01:15:33,320 --> 01:15:36,320
Or, you know, a way to get involved.

1241
01:15:36,320 --> 01:15:41,040
And then we also have a critical home repair program where we work with folks that are

1242
01:15:41,040 --> 01:15:45,720
in their home that own their home and we'll go in and do roofs or HVAC, really the large

1243
01:15:45,720 --> 01:15:46,720
ticket items.

1244
01:15:46,720 --> 01:15:47,720
Yeah.

1245
01:15:47,720 --> 01:15:50,040
And we're going to talk a lot about that when we, when we come back.

1246
01:15:50,040 --> 01:15:51,040
Okay, perfect.

1247
01:15:51,040 --> 01:15:52,040
Thank you.

1248
01:15:52,040 --> 01:15:53,040
See, cut me off.

1249
01:15:53,040 --> 01:15:54,040
Cut me off.

1250
01:15:54,040 --> 01:15:55,920
I, you know, hey, listen, you're like me.

1251
01:15:55,920 --> 01:15:59,960
We could just keep talking and forget all these breaks, but apparently we have to take

1252
01:15:59,960 --> 01:16:00,960
them.

1253
01:16:00,960 --> 01:16:05,040
So we're looking up, we are going to take a short break and we will be right back here

1254
01:16:05,040 --> 01:16:08,480
on around the house on News Talk 98.7 W okay.

1255
01:16:08,480 --> 01:16:13,640
I welcome back on around the house.

1256
01:16:13,640 --> 01:16:17,200
I'm Scott Brokamp in studio this morning.

1257
01:16:17,200 --> 01:16:22,320
We have Kelly Schultz from Habitat for Humanity.

1258
01:16:22,320 --> 01:16:24,520
But thank you all very much for listening.

1259
01:16:24,520 --> 01:16:26,880
By the way, we do appreciate your support.

1260
01:16:26,880 --> 01:16:35,400
And if you ever have questions, give us a call at 865-656-8255 or you can send a text,

1261
01:16:35,400 --> 01:16:40,640
whichever meets your fancy for this beautiful morning that we're on.

1262
01:16:40,640 --> 01:16:47,720
Kelly, before the break, you were started telling us a little bit about some programs

1263
01:16:47,720 --> 01:16:51,920
that you have and, and you have its critical home and repair.

1264
01:16:51,920 --> 01:16:52,920
Yes.

1265
01:16:52,920 --> 01:16:53,920
So fill us in on that.

1266
01:16:53,920 --> 01:16:57,840
It is a program that we started about three and a half years ago.

1267
01:16:57,840 --> 01:17:02,560
It was a initiative across our state with all affiliates with it through our Habitat

1268
01:17:02,560 --> 01:17:05,600
for Humanity of Tennessee organization.

1269
01:17:05,600 --> 01:17:12,560
And it was going in and working with folks that own their home, but had major repairs.

1270
01:17:12,560 --> 01:17:14,440
Different affiliates across the state handle it differently.

1271
01:17:14,440 --> 01:17:15,440
We'd never done it before.

1272
01:17:15,440 --> 01:17:17,960
A lot of affiliates have been doing it for years.

1273
01:17:17,960 --> 01:17:21,760
But we thought that it was a real compliment to our work and there's a huge need in Knoxville

1274
01:17:21,760 --> 01:17:22,760
for it.

1275
01:17:22,760 --> 01:17:25,800
And we started looking at how we could do it and do it best because we didn't want to

1276
01:17:25,800 --> 01:17:29,280
send volunteers into, you know, occupied space.

1277
01:17:29,280 --> 01:17:30,280
They've never done that.

1278
01:17:30,280 --> 01:17:33,440
We've only had volunteers start from the ground and build up.

1279
01:17:33,440 --> 01:17:35,760
We haven't had them tear things down.

1280
01:17:35,760 --> 01:17:39,480
So we started looking at it and said, you know, roofs are a huge, huge issue.

1281
01:17:39,480 --> 01:17:41,360
You've got to have a good roof.

1282
01:17:41,360 --> 01:17:43,120
And so many problems have happened in the house.

1283
01:17:43,120 --> 01:17:44,360
It's not to have a good roof on it.

1284
01:17:44,360 --> 01:17:45,680
So we said, okay, that's what we're going to do.

1285
01:17:45,680 --> 01:17:48,240
We're going to focus on the large ticket items.

1286
01:17:48,240 --> 01:17:50,360
So it was roofs and HVAC units.

1287
01:17:50,360 --> 01:17:54,400
Oh my gosh, Scott, there's such a need for that.

1288
01:17:54,400 --> 01:17:58,040
But again, through the program, it has to be, you have to be low income.

1289
01:17:58,040 --> 01:18:01,880
You have to be not be able to afford this or finance it.

1290
01:18:01,880 --> 01:18:04,240
And again, be approved.

1291
01:18:04,240 --> 01:18:10,840
So we started that and we've done about 70 homes in Knox County through this by doing

1292
01:18:10,840 --> 01:18:13,000
a roof and HVAC.

1293
01:18:13,000 --> 01:18:17,560
So often we do a little other something, but there's other organizations out there that

1294
01:18:17,560 --> 01:18:22,680
will do ramps and other, you know, remodel type programs.

1295
01:18:22,680 --> 01:18:27,800
So ours are really sticking to those two items.

1296
01:18:27,800 --> 01:18:32,280
And to be, to find out if you're eligible for that, again, you go to the website.

1297
01:18:32,280 --> 01:18:35,760
We have a certain person who is in charge of the critical home repair.

1298
01:18:35,760 --> 01:18:38,560
We have to do an assessment and there's some paperwork and things involved.

1299
01:18:38,560 --> 01:18:43,160
But we're actually deciding to, that program with the state is ending.

1300
01:18:43,160 --> 01:18:46,240
And so we are developing our own program to be able to do it.

1301
01:18:46,240 --> 01:18:47,240
We're still going to keep it.

1302
01:18:47,240 --> 01:18:51,640
So it still will be a really nice addition to Habitat and to Home Ownership.

1303
01:18:51,640 --> 01:18:57,080
But this also is about safe shelter and keeping folks, you know, in their homes through these

1304
01:18:57,080 --> 01:19:00,760
to large costly expenses.

1305
01:19:00,760 --> 01:19:01,760
Yeah.

1306
01:19:01,760 --> 01:19:07,160
Oh, and that's amazing that you guys not only have the, the wherewithal, but the ability

1307
01:19:07,160 --> 01:19:12,600
to really from your experience with this program of being able to analyze it, to be able to

1308
01:19:12,600 --> 01:19:14,160
find ways to keep it going.

1309
01:19:14,160 --> 01:19:18,280
Well, and the other thing is the program that we had that we've been part of was all, was

1310
01:19:18,280 --> 01:19:19,280
for seniors.

1311
01:19:19,280 --> 01:19:24,440
So, you know, and again, that's such a huge, huge need because CAC has a program that's

1312
01:19:24,440 --> 01:19:26,880
similar, but it's based on need.

1313
01:19:26,880 --> 01:19:32,160
And when you come in and there's someone that has a, you know, three or four kids, you know,

1314
01:19:32,160 --> 01:19:35,960
and they have this need and then a senior over here, it's tough to say what the need

1315
01:19:35,960 --> 01:19:36,960
is.

1316
01:19:36,960 --> 01:19:38,200
So the seniors were kind of being pushed out.

1317
01:19:38,200 --> 01:19:39,600
So that's the program we've done.

1318
01:19:39,600 --> 01:19:43,600
And the program we're going to have, we're opening up, it will be for all ages, you know,

1319
01:19:43,600 --> 01:19:48,400
for folks again, based on need, but there will be that emphasis on seniors and on veterans

1320
01:19:48,400 --> 01:19:49,560
as well.

1321
01:19:49,560 --> 01:19:53,680
We won't do it just for them, but there will be that, that emphasis on that because there,

1322
01:19:53,680 --> 01:19:55,360
because it's no one else is doing it.

1323
01:19:55,360 --> 01:19:56,360
Right.

1324
01:19:56,360 --> 01:19:58,880
So of course, my mind always likes to go.

1325
01:19:58,880 --> 01:20:03,120
So do you have any partnerships on that like KUB or anything like that?

1326
01:20:03,120 --> 01:20:07,680
Are they, there any partnerships in helping with like the HVAC type of scenario?

1327
01:20:07,680 --> 01:20:09,600
No, it's not right now.

1328
01:20:09,600 --> 01:20:10,600
Not right now.

1329
01:20:10,600 --> 01:20:13,400
You know, and that may be something that we, we couldn't do it with the program that

1330
01:20:13,400 --> 01:20:15,640
we were part of with the habitat Tennessee.

1331
01:20:15,640 --> 01:20:19,760
So as we grow and develop our program, that's something, you know, that we can certainly

1332
01:20:19,760 --> 01:20:25,200
look at KUB is a huge supporter of our work in other ways.

1333
01:20:25,200 --> 01:20:31,280
They plant a, come and plant a tree for every dedication that we do in the spring and fall.

1334
01:20:31,280 --> 01:20:32,280
They'll come and plant a tree.

1335
01:20:32,280 --> 01:20:33,280
Yeah.

1336
01:20:33,280 --> 01:20:36,080
Not in a power line, but they will come and plant, you get to pick the tree you want.

1337
01:20:36,080 --> 01:20:39,040
So KUB is a huge partner with us and what we do.

1338
01:20:39,040 --> 01:20:41,360
So there, we have a lot of partnerships that are out there.

1339
01:20:41,360 --> 01:20:44,920
I mean, it's just something that we're expanding in and looking at.

1340
01:20:44,920 --> 01:20:46,000
We have a great person.

1341
01:20:46,000 --> 01:20:50,240
It's a roofing contractor that works with us and gives us a break on costs to do those

1342
01:20:50,240 --> 01:20:51,240
roofs.

1343
01:20:51,240 --> 01:20:55,880
But there's just, you know, the thing is, is really getting the word out.

1344
01:20:55,880 --> 01:20:59,800
And then once you do that, it's heartbreaking.

1345
01:20:59,800 --> 01:21:03,640
It is heartbreaking to not be able to help everybody.

1346
01:21:03,640 --> 01:21:04,640
And we simply can't.

1347
01:21:04,640 --> 01:21:06,720
We just, we don't have the income.

1348
01:21:06,720 --> 01:21:12,320
We don't have, so it's, it's tough to pick and choose and how you do that.

1349
01:21:12,320 --> 01:21:17,960
But there's just such need in our community and, you know, delivering that message is

1350
01:21:17,960 --> 01:21:19,040
tough.

1351
01:21:19,040 --> 01:21:20,360
Yeah.

1352
01:21:20,360 --> 01:21:22,000
It's just tough.

1353
01:21:22,000 --> 01:21:27,160
So I just encourage folks to get out of their little box and see what you can do.

1354
01:21:27,160 --> 01:21:32,720
And I mean, it can be small, just a small or, you know, encouragement or, you know,

1355
01:21:32,720 --> 01:21:35,640
getting involved with, we'd love to have your involvement with us, but can involve with

1356
01:21:35,640 --> 01:21:36,640
something.

1357
01:21:36,640 --> 01:21:39,320
You know, get out and do something, get your kids.

1358
01:21:39,320 --> 01:21:43,840
And I mean, teach them that it's about giving back.

1359
01:21:43,840 --> 01:21:44,840
Right.

1360
01:21:44,840 --> 01:21:45,840
Yeah.

1361
01:21:45,840 --> 01:21:48,120
I mean, the value of giving back is just, it's insurmountable.

1362
01:21:48,120 --> 01:21:52,360
I mean, there's, there's nothing else that, that really compares.

1363
01:21:52,360 --> 01:21:59,800
And you know, and I will say, you know, you, you got to kind of prepare yourself for it.

1364
01:21:59,800 --> 01:22:02,520
Because like I said, you can't help everybody.

1365
01:22:02,520 --> 01:22:09,480
And when you get involved and you really start looking in and diving into the needs of a

1366
01:22:09,480 --> 01:22:13,400
community, you, you start to see the overwhelming needs.

1367
01:22:13,400 --> 01:22:20,240
And then, and then where so many communities are falling short on, on trying to help and

1368
01:22:20,240 --> 01:22:21,240
meet those needs.

1369
01:22:21,240 --> 01:22:27,760
And again, the thing that I love so much about you guys is that you're a come alongside,

1370
01:22:27,760 --> 01:22:35,160
we're going to teach you, we're going to help you to be able to sustain on your own.

1371
01:22:35,160 --> 01:22:41,720
And into me, that is one of the, obviously the cornerstones or earmarks of what you guys

1372
01:22:41,720 --> 01:22:43,000
do.

1373
01:22:43,000 --> 01:22:46,440
We have volunteers, one of the greatest things that somebody told me several years ago is

1374
01:22:46,440 --> 01:22:49,000
they said, you know, here we were planning to come out here.

1375
01:22:49,000 --> 01:22:52,800
Here I was planning to come out here and help somebody and I'm leaving here and I've been

1376
01:22:52,800 --> 01:22:54,040
helped the most.

1377
01:22:54,040 --> 01:22:55,040
That's right.

1378
01:22:55,040 --> 01:22:56,040
That's what happens.

1379
01:22:56,040 --> 01:22:57,040
That's what happens.

1380
01:22:57,040 --> 01:23:00,480
So thank you so much for joining me this morning, Kelly.

1381
01:23:00,480 --> 01:23:06,920
You can go to Knoxville Habitat for Humanity.com, get involved, help out.

1382
01:23:06,920 --> 01:23:10,400
If you have missed a part of our broadcast and want to listen to an episode again, there's

1383
01:23:10,400 --> 01:23:11,960
a link on my website.

1384
01:23:11,960 --> 01:23:17,320
Just go to hissecurity.com and click on the A-T-H radio tab to find past shows.

1385
01:23:17,320 --> 01:23:23,640
I thank very much our guests this morning and remember around the house is produced by News

1386
01:23:23,640 --> 01:23:28,520
Talk 987 with guest coordination services by media, be media savvy.

1387
01:23:28,520 --> 01:23:29,520
Thank you for listening this morning.

1388
01:23:29,520 --> 01:23:54,800
I hope you enjoy some quality time around the house.