65-year-old Metro Atlanta Widow Wins $200,000 Meridian Home Giveaway

Atlanta, GA, May 02, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Meridian Homes recently announced the grand prize winner in the finale to its $200,000 New Home Giveaway, an eight month promotion involving more than 8,300 entries.

The official presentation took place Tuesday, April 17th, at Meridian Homes’ Neely Manor community in Covington. Loganville resident Gloria Horn was the lucky winner. A 65-year-old widow, Gloria is originally from Illinois and has lived in the Wagon Trail Mobile Home Community for the last 28 years. She was present for the home presentation.

“I have never been a lucky person so this came as a complete shock,” said Gloria Horn of her good fortune. It came at a very opportune time as Gloria’s BellSouth job of 28 years will be phased out at the end of this year as a result of the AT&T buyout. “Since my job is going away, I thought I’d never see my dream of owning a home come true. I have to keep pinching myself that this is real. After all the hardships I’ve gone through in my life, I look at this as a miracle.”

Horn had the option of taking $150,000 in cash or spending up to $200,000 on the purchase of a new Meridian home. She is looking at a home in The Oaks at Mill Creek, a Meridian Homes active adult community off Alcovy Road in Monroe and the site of her original contest registration. She says she likes this neighborhood because it’s close to her four children and seven grandchildren.

The Oaks at Mill Creek is one of four active adult communities being built by Meridian Homes. The local builder is fast becoming a leader in metro Atlanta for affordable active adult neighborhoods. The builder also has 17 residential communities in several eastern metro Atlanta cities.

When asked about the motivation for having such a large contest, Meridian Homes President Darrell McWaters explained, “We wanted to do something big to give back to our customers and the community. Being a home builder, giving away a new home seemed the natural choice.”

Meridian Homes is no stranger to giving back to the local community. It has donated several lots to Habitat for Humanity, helped build a Habitat home, recently donated land for a public park in Loganville, helped build a student center for Walton County students, and are in the process of rebuilding four homes damaged by arson in Village Place.

For a list of communities Meridian Homes is building, to see photos of the contest winner or to learn more about the metro Atlanta-based builder, visit their Meridian Homes USA web site.

Established in 1995, Meridian Homes annually sells more than 500 homes and has communities in Gwinnett, Jackson, Walton, Barrow, Henry, Newton and Rockdale counties. It has also been ranked one of Atlanta's top 25 builders every year since 1997 by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. More than 4,000 metro Atlanta families now call a Meridian house their home.

The company also created and continues to build by the “It's included” philosophy. While many features are considered costly upgrades by other builders, Meridian Homes includes them standard in their properties. The firm’s building success and commitment to quality has resulted in multiple Gold and Silver Professionalism Awards from the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association. In 2005, Meridian Homes expanded its building focus into the Greenville, South Carolina market.

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