Home Sweet Home for the Morales Family!

DateNovember 19, 2009 | Filed Under Habitat News 

On Saturday, November 7 Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven dedicated its 69th home at 34 Dewitt Street, the new home of Marisol Morales and her three daughters. The dedication also marked the successful completion of an extraordinary pilot project–Skills for Life–a collaboration between Habitat and Youth Continuum, a local non-profit that works with young people transitioning from homelessness or the Connecticut foster care system to self-sufficiency.

Marisol’s Story

Marisol is soft-spoken, a bit shy and self-effacing, but she also has a will of iron and an unshakable faith that has enabled her to survive her ordeal of being homeless and the parent of three small children ten years ago. (Read about Marisol’s journey in the recent New Haven Independent article at:  http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/11/skills_for_life.php). Week after week, after working at her full time job, she arrived at the work site to do her sweat equity hours, one of the requirements for Habitat homeownership. She set a sterling example of what can be accomplished with determination and a dream. It was particularly meaningful that Marisol worked side by side with participants in the Skills for Life program, who themselves were learning the skills necessary for full-time employment and financial independence.

Marisol Morales          34 Dewitt Street-dedication_edited-1         

The Skills for Life Project

Skills for Life, a collaboration between Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven and Youth Continuum, is a pilot program that provides construction skills training and life skills for young adults preparing to transition from homelessness or Connecticut’s foster care system to self-sufficiency. Fifteen Skills for Life participants received a stipend to work alongside Habitat’s professional construction staff to build 34 Dewitt Street. They learned construction skills, and just as importantly, they learned how a workplace functions. Now that the project is finished, those interested in construction as a career will be assisted with gaining entry into educational programs or apprenticeship programs. The first Skills for Life project was funded primarily by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Habitat is currently raising funds for the second Skills for Life project.

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Sponsor for 34 Dewitt Street

  • The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Co-Sponsors

  • NewAlliance Foundation

  • M&LF Giving Back Foundation

  • One of a Kind Foundation

Additional Support

  • Pfizer

  • The United Illuminating Company

  • U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Community Block Development Program