Building Shalom is a community development organization in Rocky Mount that focuses on strengthening neighborhoods. Their mission statement is “building blighted neighborhoods into beautiful and beloved neighborhoods.”

The organization started under Peacemakers’ Housing Initiative in 2016 and fully launched in 2022. Building Shalom aims to transform the community by transforming one home, one neighbor, and one neighborhood at a time.

They help equip people trying to become homeowners while also restoring abandoned and blighted homes into ones that are energy efficient, up to code, affordable, and beautiful.

Since 2022, Building Shalom has restored six homes, and they plan to finish two more this year. Of those six homes, four are owned and two are rentals.

Their focus is currently a neighborhood in a one-mile by one-mile area of South Rocky Mount, but they hope to expand into other neighborhoods in the future. Families and individuals looking to become homeowners begin their 12-month journey with Building Shalom by attending an orientation, then they go through a loan pre-approval process and various steps to see how long they may need to become qualified.

Participants in the program then begin working to renovate a home. The families have input in the home's design, while also receiving guidance from the organization to help make financially responsible decisions along the way.

Members of the homeownership program share some of the most intimate details about their lives, as they have to share their budgets, goals, and more; it provides a clear avenue to know the members of the group.