VALDOSTA — Amid weather disasters, security setbacks, and the loss of a key leadership figure, the Habitat for Humanity Valdosta-Lowndes chapter is holding strong to its mission of building homes and a sense of community.

In the past year, the local Habitat chapter has faced various challenges — from hurricane damage that condemned their front office and damaged the ReStore to costly break-ins. Still, the team continues pushing forward, recently raising walls on a new home and preparing to relocate the ReStore to a new location on East Hill Avenue.

The team also faced the passing of its executive director, Michael Bourgoin, who they said stood as a gold standard for what the chapter represents and looks for in its employees. Filling those shoes is the newly appointed executive director, Justin Geers, who was selected after an extensive process by the board of directors.

Geers, a nearly retired Air Force veteran, brings over two decades of military experience and leadership to the nonprofit. Geers hopes his background will help bring stability and focus to the organization following the year’s challenges.

“Everything that we do in the military has structure, it has a purpose, a desired endstate, it has goals, objectives attached to those lines of efforts,” said Geers. “I’m gonna bring that to this organization.”

Through it all, Geers emphasizes that a vast amount of the organization’s strength comes from its sponsors and volunteers. 

“They [volunteers] are the bedrock and the foundation to our success,” he said. “Without our partnership, with the community and the volunteers, we just simply cannot complete the mission.”

The ReStore — Habitat’s resale outlet for donated furniture, home goods, and other products — generates vital funding for home construction and programs such as aging-in-place and veterans’ housing. Volunteers help stock the store, sort donations, and assist with moves like the one upcoming this summer.

Looking ahead, Geers hopes to double the number of homes built annually — from four to eight or more — but that growth is tied directly to land access, funding, and hands-on help. 

“We have the infrastructure, we have the team set in place,” he said. “But without the community involvement, without their leadership engagement, and without their donations, we simply cannot complete any of the objectives or the mission that we have set forth for the next three, five, or 10 years.”