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Housing & Community
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Affordable Housing Program Success Stories
High School Students Build Habitat Home Nail by Nail, Piece by Piece
What do single mom Maria Benitez and high school students from Delmarva Christian High School in Georgetown, Delaware have in common? They teamed up with Sussex County Habitat for Humanity to help build a new home for Benitez and her four children.
Benitez “joined hands” with Habitat, AmeriCorps volunteers, and 28 high school students who dedicated three weeks as a required high school service project (known as J-Term) to build a decent, affordable home for the Benitez family. While other Delmarva Christian students sought educational or service projects elsewhere, this group chose to help a family in need in their own backyard.
The students learned at the start of their project that it wouldn’t be easy. Each nail in the house’s frame had to be driven by hand because Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from using power tools. And, because of cold weather (work began in January), the frame was built in the high school’s technical building and moved in sections to the construction site.
“The partnership with the Delmarva Christian High School is really special for Habitat,” said Kevin Gilmore, executive director of Sussex County Habitat for Humanity. “Our intent is to bring together the community through the building of homes and to raise social consciousness about the issues of affordable housing. The students who chose to spend their J-Term working on this house did an incredible job, and they made a difference in their community by being examples of selfless service. Their names are written within the walls of Maria’s home forever, and their memory will be in her heart forever,” Gilmore added.
FHLBank Pittsburgh member Delaware National Bank provided $242,858 in Affordable Housing Program (AHP) funds to help meet total development costs of $550,230 for the final construction phase of Concord Village. Under the AHP, Delaware National Bank has utilized more than $ 1.6 million and created approximately 55 units of affordable housing to help low-income families. The FHLBank System is the largest single contributor to Habitat for Humanity projects nationwide.
Benitez’s home is the last completed of the single-family, ranch-styles homes in the 19-home subdivision of this southwestern Delaware community. Each home has three or four bedrooms as well as one-and-a-half baths, ENERGY STAR®-rated windows and appliances, additional insulation, and central heating and air conditioning.
Benitez was onsite with the students through the home’s completion in June, contributing sweat equity during every phase of construction. During a house blessing ceremony, Benitez proclaimed ecstatically, "It's the world's dream to have their own house, and I have been given that dream."
Habitat for Humanity’s philosophy is to provide “a hand-up, not a hand-out.” It seeks families who currently reside in substandard living conditions to work alongside them, building simple, decent and affordable homes with interest-free mortgages. Habitat also provides potential homebuyers with training designed to make them successful homeowners. Sussex County Habitat for Humanity houses are not sold for profit, and house payments are recycled to build additional houses.
To find out how you can buy a Habitat home or help build a home for a deserving family in your own area, go to http://www.habitat.org.
More Success Stories…
Family Rides Fast Track to New Home in Elkins, West Virginia
When single mom Jamalyn Sexton and her three-year-old son Connor moved from Arkansas to Elkins, West Virginia a few months ago, she expected to be living at first in a one-bedroom apartment. On the recommendation of a friend, Sexton contacted local builder Highland Community Builders, Inc.(HCB), enrolled in a local homeownership program at the HomeOwnership Center, Inc. of Elkins, a partner organization of HCB, and three months later – much to her surprise – she became the first homeowner of a newly constructed home on Wilson Lane in the Highland Meadows neighborhood.
Quality of Life Improves for Cambria County Seniors
Life just got a little better for the residents of Emerald Estates, a 26-year-old housing development for lower-income seniors located in the central Pennsylvania community of Gallitzin. The housing complex serving elderly and handicapped residents underwent a $1.1 million facelift recently, modernizing 35 units with dishwashers and new energy-efficient windows and doors. In addition, safety was enhanced throughout the complex by upgrading interior security systems, re-grading of the parking lot, replacing sidewalks and adding exterior lighting.
FHLBanks Named “Housing Partner of the Year” as AHP Marks 20th Year
In the dark days of the Great Depression, the National Housing Conference (NHC) – pioneers of America’s affordable housing movement – gathered against a backdrop of insurmountable odds to help the country get back on its feet. The group’s first achievement, passage of the Federal Home Loan Bank Act, set in motion a commitment to housing finance that not only helped get many down-and-out Americans back under a roof, but also sparked a growing partnership of influential organizations essential to creating an ample stock of clean, safe, affordable housing for everyone.
Bethesda Mission Renovation Provides More than Shelter for the Homeless in Harrisburg
A homeless shelter that has been around since the early 1900s in downtown Harrisburg has undergone a multi-million dollar renovation recently, providing safe and more comfortable refuge for the homeless men who walk through its doors and who would otherwise still be living in the streets. Purchased by Bethesda Mission in 1934, the Men’s Center, Bethesda’s flagship facility, provides transitional housing, food, clothing and comprehensive social services for the area’s homeless. Over the decades, the Center’s infrastructure and exterior condition deteriorated to a dangerous point and required a significant facelift. The Mission’s most significant capital improvement project in its history was launched in 2007.
New Homes Heaven-sent for West Virginia Families in Need
Charity Malcolm and her two young children have been living in a drafty trailer. Their living situation will take a turn upward this summer when they move into a new home they helped build with the assistance of Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity volunteers and community partners. Malcolm, who spoke recently at the dual Affordable Housing Program (AHP) grant presentation and townhomes dedication at Painters Point, WV, told the audience that she “wanted something better for my children.” She added that she applied for Habitat housing to improve their lives.
For the Hockenberry Family of Harrisburg, Happiness is “Home Sweet Home”
One could say Tania Hockenberry and her two young daughters are living the American dream. Hockenberry is a first-time homeowner and the first homebuyer in the new Mount Pleasant Homes development, located in the South Allison Hill section of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Hockenberry has lived in the area for five years, but until a couple of months ago was unable to afford a home.
Reading, Pennsylvania – a City on the Rebound
Retail executive Albert Boscov and a cadre of local community leaders have high hopes for the city of Reading, Pennsylvania. Thanks to Our City Reading – a community revitalization initiative born nine years ago – more than 400 homes have been transformed from abandoned or aging eyesores into restored, move-in-ready, first homes for hundreds of families. “Our work is far from over,” according to Boscov, Our City Reading’s founder and guiding light. The goal of the group is to renovate at least 70 properties a year.
Renovated Apartments Reopen, West Side Wilmington on the Upswing
Historically, many neighborhoods in the city of Wilmington, Delaware, have been plagued by rampant poverty, vacant and substandard housing, overcrowding and high crime rates. The West Side neighborhood was no exception.
Affordable Housing Targets Younger, Active Seniors
Filling a unique niche in the growing senior housing market, 72 new apartments for seniors 55 years and older with low-to-moderate incomes opened recently in downtown Parkesburg, Pennsylvania. The one- and two-bedroom affordable housing units– called Westminster Place at Parkesburg – serve residents in this southcentral Pennsylvania community by providing an environment where younger, active seniors can age gracefully.
New Rent-to-Own, Single-Family Homes Prove Popular in Uniontown, Pennsylvania
A new “rent-to-own” housing development opened recently, filling a big need felt by low-income working families in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The new single-family homes are located in the East End and Lafayette neighborhoods, and all 30 of the three- and four-bedroom homes have been rented to families whose incomes fall at or below $38,520 annually and who would otherwise not qualify to buy a home without the lease-to-purchase option.
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