The Greater Fredericksburg Habitat for Humanity was chartered by Habitat for Humanity International, Inc. on July 5, 1995 by a group of concerned citizens seeing a need for adequate low cost housing for residents of the City of Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties. After being officially chartered we started searching for families in need of adequate housing, funds to build homes, and building sites. Our first family was selected in August of 1996; a building site located in the Mayfield subdivision; construction began in November and was completed in April of 1997. Our second house on Camptown Road in Spotsylvania County was completed in November of 1997. The third house on Chewning Lane was a "Blitz Build" during Habitat's "Building on Faith Week" in September of 1997. In 1998 we purchased and subdivided a lot on Airport Avenue in the city. We finished construction of the fifth house on that property in 2005. In 2003 the Free Lance Star newspaper offered Habitat a 1920's two story house on their parking lot and a building lot across the street. We had the house raised up and moved on a Sunday morning in April. This was our first attempt at refurbishing a house. After several roadblocks the home was dedicated in November of 2004. During the summer of 2006 we built our first two-story house and it was designated our "Youth Build" house in honor of five Stafford highschoolers that lost their lives in 2004. Our affiliate's office started in the music library of the Falmouth Baptist Church, moved to the Baptist Association, then to a building in the Bowman Industrial Park. We leased our Houser Drive location (next to Comcast Cable in Spotsylvania) in 2000, due to the need for more space and a more accessible location to hold meetings. In 2001 we started receiving donations of building materials and home furnishings for resale. Our store operated on one Saturday a month holding a "Yard Sale." In 2004 we started opening the ReSale store during the week and hired a full-time manager to run the store and make pickups of donated items. The store has been such a success that we have now found a larger building to house all the items we have for sale. In December of 2006 we moved our operations (office and ReSale Store) from our House Drive location to our new facility at 4755 Jefferson Davis Highway, which is in the Four Mile Fork Business Center - next to J&J Tile.

FREDERICKSBURG AREA FOOD BANK (FAFB)
The Fredericksburg Area Food Bank was incorporated in 1982 as the Fredericksburg Area Food Relief Clearinghouse. The original concept was for the organization to feed hungry families and individuals throughout Planning District 16 (the counties of Stafford, Spotsylvania, King George, Caroline and the City of Fredericksburg). The idea involved obtaining surplus food through retail and wholesale food outlets and then redistributing the food to the hungry. The first full-scale food pantry was opened at 304 George Street in Fredericksburg during the winter of 1981-1982. In the first winter of operation the facility distributed 13,000 pounds of food to the needy.

The 28 founding members of the Food Relief Clearinghouse included many of the downtown churches, welfare agencies, domestic violence shelters, and community homes. In the mid-1980’s, the pantry eventually outgrew its downtown location and rented a warehouse on Little Page Street. It became affiliated with the Central Virginia Food Bank in Richmond, Virginia. This affiliation increased the variety of foods available at the clearinghouse. Further expansion occurred in 1991 when the clearinghouse once again relocated to 310 Central Road in the Fredericksburg Industrial Park.

In 1993 it was evident that the food relief clearinghouse had grown so substantially that a new warehouse was needed. The Board of Directors spearheaded a capital works project and completed a warehouse in June of 1994. The Fredericksburg Area Food Relief Clearinghouse moved into its new facility in the summer of 1994. Food distribution had increased to 500,000 pounds annually. In the spring of 1995, the Fredericksburg Area Food Relief Clearinghouse changed its name to the Fredericksburg Area Food Bank and became a certified affiliate member of Second Harvest Food Bank Network. This affiliation brought many strategic advantages to the Food Bank. The Second Harvest Food Bank Network, currently known as America’s Second Harvest, is the single largest domestic feeding organization in the United States. It is comprised of over 200 food banks and 30,000 food pantries nationwide.

Fredericksburg Area Food Bank located at 1327 Alum Spring Road operates a 9,000 square foot warehouse. It contains an additional 4,000 cubic foot of freezer space. The size of the warehouse and the affiliation with America’s Second Harvest increased tremendously the amount and variety of food now available at the food bank. Food distribution grew to over 1 million pounds within 18 months and peaked at 1.4 million pounds in 2000.