On July 28th, Providence Homes will break ground on a 2,285-square-foot, 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom Flagler model in Stonebrier at OakLeaf Plantation. The home will feature a greatroom, formal dining room, study, breakfast area, spacious kitchen, and an upstairs bonus room, as well as full sod and irrigation and a security system.

Providence Homes currently offers nine floorplans ranging between 1,533 and 2,802 square feet in this community. Stonebrier is located within OakLeaf Plantation, a family community on the Duval/Clay county border that has been designed as a modern, all-inclusive town center with many nearby schools. The neighborhood features a beautiful pond and wooded areas. Lovely OakLeaf Plantation boasts a 30-acre athletic club with a 6,000-square-foot clubhouse; tennis courts; soccer and baseball fields; a fitness center; a water park with slides and a children's spray pool; and a public library. Other planned amenities include an 110-acre regional park; an 18-hole golf course; a 15-mile path for hiking, biking, jogging; a 1.5 million square foot regional mall; a 1.6-million square foot office space; and an additional 1.7 million square foot industrial and flex space.

“Our home construction projects with HOPE International are such a tremendous opportunity for Providence Homes, our vendors, and our trade contractors to work together as an organization to serve a higher purpose and to let our combined success help people in need,” said Chief Operating Officer Sean Junker.

With the help of their vendors and trade contractors, Providence Homes donated almost $100,000 last year to HOPE International from the sale of a 3,164-square foot, five-bedroom, three-bathroom home in River Hills Reserve. Vendors and trade contractors involved in the construction of the HOPE house may donate time, materials and talent to keep the actual cost of the home as low as possible. Upon completion, the home is sold and the profits are donated to HOPE International.

HOPE International is a faith-based group that provides microenterprise loans to the poor in underdeveloped countries, usually women with children who have been widowed or abandoned by war or devastation. Most of the loans, generally $100 - $500, are used to help people in third world nations, start businesses and begin to rebuild their lives. Examples include selling shoes or vegetables in an open market or purchasing sheep or pigs for livestock.

According to Joel Anderson, Director of Development for HOPE International, nearly all HOPE loans are repaid, averaging a 97% repayment rate. That means the same $500 loan that helped one family out of poverty this year will help another family next year and then another family the following year and so on. It's this principle that makes the "House for HOPE" program so successful, long after the home has been sold. To date, HOPE International has issued approximately $3 million in micro-loans. In addition to helping individuals and families with micro-loans, HOPE also starts Bible clubs and summer camps for thousands of children in these impoverished nations.

Providence Homes was founded in 1992 by company president, Bill Cellar. As Providence Homes celebrates their Twelfth Anniversary, Bill Cellar continues to build upon the philosophy that homeowners deserve the best he can give. The team of professionals at Providence Homes is committed to building every home as if they were building it for their own family. That degree of care has earned Providence Homes an excellent reputation among Realtors® and homeowners.