Charlotte Overton Moran is the 2021 recipient
of the Exchange Club of Kiawah-Seabrook Angel Oak Award
Seabrook Island’s own Charlotte Moran is this year’s recipient of the Angel Oak Award from the Exchange Club of Kiawah-Seabrook Foundation.
After a successful career in regulatory compliance with Citibank in New York, Charlotte and her husband Ed moved to Seabrook Island in 2003, and she quickly realized that she needed something to do. Having worked with Habitat for Humanity in New York, she started working for the Sea Islands Habitat for Humanity one day a week, but she rapidly started to spend more time with Habitat, and she is now one of the organization’s leaders, serving her second six-year term as a Board member and Treasurer of the Sea Islands affiliate, as well as leading the Women’s Build project each year, chairing the Land Planning committee and working with other builds and repair activities on Johns, James, and Wadmalaw Islands.
While Habitat is generally known for its construction of homes for people who otherwise would not be able to afford one but are willing to put in sweat equity, Ms. Moran says that Habitat is really four different businesses: a construction company, a retail store, a mortgage company, and a non-profit organization. All of the components work in concert to deliver a home, and since its founding in 1978, Sea Islands Habitat has built over 400 homes in our community. It’s a complex business. The ReStore outlet generates over $1million in revenue each year, and the mortgage operations currently holds about 216 mortgages. Beyond economics, Habitat works to find qualified homeowners, acquire property, manage construction, and ultimately give a family a new home. Demand is high- there’s currently about a one-year waiting list for a Habitat home. In addition to building homes, Sea Islands Habitat has a home repair program where individuals can get help repairing roofs and windows and building handicapped access ramps. Over 100 repair projects have been completed to date.
The Women’s Build is a pet project for Ms. Moran. Each year twenty-five to thirty women gather for a week to build a Habitat home. While the foundation is in place when they start, the framing and roofing are substantially done by the end of the week. All of the volunteers are trained on the site with training ranging from how to use a chop saw to how to wear a hard hat. This year’s build is scheduled for April 23-30 and they are still seeking additional volunteers and sponsors. Information on the project is available here.
Even though she’s busy with Sea Islands Habitat, Ms. Moran also works with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra League and she’s the chairperson of the Seabrook Islands Property Owners Association Elections Committee.
The Angel Oak Award was established by the Exchange Club of Kiawah-Seabrook in 2012 to recognize a volunteer who has made an outstanding contribution to the people or the quality of life on Johns Island, Wadmalaw Island, Kiawah Island and/or Seabrook Island. As a part of the award, the Exchange Club makes a $5000 donation to a local charitable organization or organizations of the recipient’s choice.
The Angel Oak Award Banquet will take place this year on Wednesday, May 18, 2022, at Wingate Place from 5:30 to 9:30 pm. To register yourself and your guests for this great event, please click here. There is no charge for members but At-Large members and guests will be charged a fee of $75.00 per person.
Donations to the Exchange Club of Kiawah-Seabrook Foundation can also be made on the Club’s website.
-Submitted by Thad Peterson, Kiawah-Seabrook Exchange Club