Habitat for Humanity Newark Comes to West Orange

DCA & HMFA Celebrate Installation of Solar Panels at Senior Affordable Housing Community in Bellmawr

Assistance Provided through HMFA's Multifamily Solar Funding Program


 

The house at 112 Whittlesey Avenue is one step closer to belonging to two hardworking, low-income families in West Orange.

Habitat for Humanity Newark worked with the Department of Community Affairs Commissioner, Lori Grifa, and 30 other volunteers from the Women Build Committee to open a new set of doors in West Orange.

Habitat for Humanity Newark broke ground in West Orange back in November — its first forage outside of Newark. 

The group installed windows and cleaned up the property, getting rid of weeds and overgrowth from the new home.

Habitat for Humanity Newark has built homes for more than 72 families in the county, three of which were built and sponsored by the Women Build Committee.  The home in West Orange has not yet been completed. 

The two lucky  families that will receive the brand new house were chosen because of their desperate need for better housing. 

Families that qualify are living in dangerous situations or have opposite-sex siblings sharing the same bedroom because of a lack of space.

Once their need is clear, Habitat for Humanity checks that the family has a good credit rating and an income that is just enough to make monthly payments on a zero-interest mortgage. 

Kathryn Cassidy has volunteered with the Women Build Committee since 2004 and has witnessed the selection process through the years. She remembered one particular story of a woman who had been approved for a house. Cassidy said the woman had lost her job and would not have been able to make her payments.

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