Habitat Builders is a 501c3 non-profit chapter of the North Carolina Wildlife Federation. We were founded in January 2019 to protect, conserve and restore wildlife and habitat in the Marvin/Waxhaw area.

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In October of 2018, a small group of Marvin, NC citizens sent out a call for volunteers to join a newly formed NCWF Chapter in the area. On January 15, 2019 the group held their first meeting with Tara Moore, the Conservation Organizer for NCWF, and became the 15th NCWF Chapter in NC. The main goal was to certify the community as a Certified Wildlife Habitat Community by December 31, 2019. This goal was quite a challenge and required a lot of work to accomplish. The Chapter needed a certification plan, an education plan, a communication plan, a community project plan, and even an administrative plan. All of these plans included, among other things, tasks like:

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Help certify residential and commercial properties, common areas, schools and farms,

Create a planning team and communication/meeting format and schedule,

Gather support from local community government officials,

Create an educational speaker series,

Coordinate a community clean up event,

Create a logo and social media presence, 

Host a booth at a local community event,

Host a Garden Tour, and,

Write a regular column in a local community newsletter. 

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The Chapter also needed a name and MARSH was born. MARSH was originally an acronym for Marvin Association for the Restoration and Sustainability of wildlife Habitat. But soon we realized that the word "Association" wasn't quite broad enough and we changed the A to "Area". On February 8, 2019, the Mayor of Marvin wrote a letter to MARSH stating his and the Counci's support of MARSH. In May 2019, the Village Council recognized June as Wildlife and Greenspace Month as a means of "protecting and sustaining our greenspace and wildlife through education and volunteerism." The Proclamation was signed by Mayor Pollino on May 15, 2019. The Chapter was and is extremely fortunate to have excellent support from the Marvin Village Council and the Village of Marvin staff. 

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With this support, the diligence of the MARSH Planning Team and the continued property certifications in the Marvin area, MARSH was able to apply for Marvin to become a Certified Wildlife Habitat Community by November 2019. The Certificate from The National Wildlife Federation is dated December 16, 2019, an amazing feat completed in less than 12 months. 

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As part of the certification criteria MARSH began offering educational programs to the public. The first event was a Garden Tour of two private gardens and one public garden on September 21, 2019. Next MARSH offered the first educational program focused on “Snakes in NC”. Grover Barfield was the speaker and not only shared a wealth of knowledge about native snakes, but also brought several live snakes. This event, held at the Marvin Efird Park Barn was a huge success with an estimated 80 attendees. 

On January 21, 2020, MARSH hosted Rupert Medford, NC Wildlife Biologist, at the Banks Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall for a lively discussion about coyotes. 

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Our next program was scheduled for March 17, 2020 but with the shutdown due to the Covid pandemic, that was not meant to be. As time continued to pass and restrictions didn't change, we finally decided to go virtual in September 2020. We were very fortunate to have Dr. Larry Mellichamp as our first virtual speaker. He said it was his first virtual presentation and he did a great job of telling us all about native plants. We continued on virtually through September 2021. You can see all these videos on our YouTube channel here.  Topics range from Native Plants, Composting, Creating Habitat, Attracting Birds, Gardening for Pollinators, Wildlife Damage Control, and Trees. 

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In October 2021 we did our first outdoor in-person event since January 2020. Allison Medford (spouse of Rupert Medford, our second speaker) presented a fascinating program about Bats, at Marvin Efird Park Barn. We continued to provide educational programs throughout the year as well as more interactive programs like Bird Walks, Invasive Plant Removal Workdays, Planting events, Water Sampling (with the Catawba Riverkeeper) and Moth Night!

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In late 2024, due to some new naming structures with NCWF, we took the opportunity to update our Chapter name to reflect what we think is most important. MARSH became Habitat Builders (the logo is the same - because it's awesome!) and the mission is the same, but we want to be a little more obvious in our work. Building, restoring and conserving habitat is the most important work we can do to support our local wildlife. It's as easy as providing food, water, and shelter in your own yard for birds, pollinators, reptiles, amphibians, small mammals and all the little creatures you don't even see. You'll find more information about building specific habitats here.

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We continue to do the work that keeps the Village of Marvin a certified Community Wildlife Habitat and we continue to expand our educational event offerings. We are committed to engaging our community about conservation, the environment, and how you can make a difference.