The HomeOwnership Center, located at 2276 Randolph Ave. in Elkins, celebrated National Home Ownership Month in June.

ELKINS — Throughout June, the HomeOwnership Center Inc. celebrated National Home Ownership month, and this year’s theme that, “Everyone Deserves a Place to Call Home.”

Potential home buyers benefited from the organization offering its Home Buyer Education workshop at half price, and soon will benefit from a newly hired Home Ownership advisor, who will be offering the very best in pre-purchase guidance to customers.

The HomeOwnership Center also found a very different way to honor its “Everyone Deserves a Place to Call Home” theme. In June, the nonprofit organization donated wooden bird houses to several area senior living facilities, and in doing so, the HomeOwnership Center engaged with a part of the local community with whom it doesn’t often get to interact. Recipients of the bird houses included Colonial Place and First Ward Apartments in Elkins, and Pineview Apartments in Thomas. Visits to Lavender Fields in Beverly and Mansfield Place in Philippi are scheduled for July. The bird houses, hand-built by YouthBuild North Central students, are being installed in outdoor garden spaces where they can provide the most enjoyment for the residents living there — as well as providing a well-deserved home for the resident bird population.

“We were trying to think of a creative way we could reach out to the community and brighten someone’s day, and this seemed like a fun way to do it,” said Kate Somers, HomeOwnership Center’s executive director. “Donating bird houses was in keeping with our “home” theme. We got to collaborate with YouthBuild North Central, who did a terrific job building these beautiful bird houses, and we got a chance to visit with some of the seniors of our community and share a little joy with them at the place they call home.”

Through these events, the HomeOwnership Center has highlighted National Home Ownership month, as well as participated in the nationally recognized NeighborWorks Week, which is a nationwide celebration of neighborhood revitalization and community development activities.

The HomeOwnership Center Inc. is part of the national NeighborWorks network, an affiliation of more than 240 nonprofit organizations located in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. In 2016, the NeighborWorks network helped 360,000 individuals and families with affordable housing and counseling. The NeighborWorks network was founded and is supported by NeighborWorks America, which creates opportunities for people to live in affordable homes, improve their lives and strengthen their communities.

The mission of the HomeOwnership Center Inc. is to create and support successful home owners through financial counseling, home-buyer education and responsible lending. These services are available to anyone who is interested in them. The HomeOwnership Center office is located at 2276 Randolph Ave. in Elkins (U.S. 219 North toward the Parsons Road), and is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information on HOC, call 304-636-9115 or visit www.hocwv.org. WV Mortgage Broker License #MB-20182; NMLS ID 362854.