Habitat would like to thank the following outstanding groups who volunteered their help for our Giant Tag Sale (and set up) on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18. Thanks to their hard work and generosity, Habitat raised nearly $5,000, all of which will be used to build future Habitat homes.

University of New Haven Football Team members Kyle Berkheiser, Rejinal Gachelin, Nyquan McGirt, Ian Querze, Rich Roberts and Zachery Vonder Linden (special thanks to Assistant Coaches John Svatic and Tony Connor, and Special Teams Coordinator Daryl Daleen for all their help)

Members of the UNH football team

Determination…

Quinnipiac University Habitat Club members Tory Saba, Julie Stolz (special thanks to Julia Bowler for coordinating the volunteers) and the rest of the Saturday team

The Quinnipiac Team
Quinnipiac Coordinator Julia Bowler (far left) &
Habitat Construction Manager Adam Blasavage (far right)

Elbow grease!

United States Coast Guard members Chief Hugh “Chip” Hamilton, Sharon Bratton, Christie Dixon and Adrian Kavanagh (special thanks to Chief Hamilton for pulling together his team on very short notice!) 

We simply could not have done it without our wonderful volunteers!

Habitat is building two new homes side by side on Wilson Street. Yale-New Haven Hospital and its medical staff are sponsoring the other house. This is Habitat’s first “green building” project. The homes are scheduled for completion by late spring 2009.

Check back regularly for updates and photos of the progress!

On Saturday, November 1, Yale-New Haven Hospital and Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven joined in breaking ground and kicking off construction on a new Habitat house located at 15 Wilson Street in the Hill neighborhood. The construction project, estimated to take about six months to complete, is being co-sponsored by YNHH and its medical staff. YNHH employees, physicians and family members will volunteer to construct the house with supervision and training provided by Habitat, in a demonstration of YNHH’s commitment to helping a local family fulfill their American dream of owning a home.

Guests enjoyed specially selected wines and light hors d’oeuvres. Scoozzi donated the hors d’oeuvres and The Wine Thief donated wine for the event.

 Special thanks to Jeff at Scoozzi’s for helping to make the evening a big success! 

The Shepard Street project was the fourth home sponsored by Madison Cares. MC’s supporters contributed generously and provided volunteers who helped rehab the once derelict property. Sponsors for 18 Shepard Street are: ACT II Thrift Shop; Christ Chapel, Madison; First Congregational Church of Madison; Kevin and Tina Garrity; Madison Rotary Foundation, Inc.; North Madison Congregational Church; St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church; Temple Beth Tikvah; The Madison Foundation; United Illuminating Company; and Peter Indorf Jewelers.

Madison Cares is gearing up to begin work on a new Habitat home on Wilson Street in New Haven. Build V is scheduled to get underway in October.

See the four photos below for 18 Shepard Street’s amazing transformation!

18 Shepard Street (before)

June 2008

August 2008

September 2008

A-Plus invited friends, family, customers, vendors and supporters of Habitat to enjoy a day of fun to benefit Habitat’s home building program. In addition to food and beverages, there was a bake sale, a 50/50 raffle and car wash. For Yankee fans, four tickets to a game were raffled off. A-Plus donated all proceeds to Habitat.

Habitat is pleased to partner with A-Plus Building Supply to build, safe, decent, affordable homes that are constructed with environmentally friendly products. Like Habitat, A-Plus is committed to the “Green Building” movement.

A-Plus Building Supply can be contacted at (203) 467-1180 or by email at info@aplusbuildingsupply.com.

Currently, Habitat homes, designed by nationally acclaimed architect Duo Dickinson, are Energy Star-certified. This means that each of the 3-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath, single family homes is built with energy-saving features such as Energy Star-rated appliances; water saving fixtures; energy conserving windows, Energy Star light fixtures and bulbs; and high efficiency hot water heaters and furnaces to name a few.

According to Bill Casey, Habitat’s Executive Director, the goal is to build future homes that will be prototypes of non-profit “Green Building”. This will include using state-of-the-art building materials and techniques that will decrease the energy needs of the house, the selection of a location for the homes that is within walking distance of a variety of mass transit options, and initiating an intense recycling program to minimize construction waste.

“Our aim is to be at the forefront of the current move toward energy efficiency in affordable housing. There has been a misapprehension that building green is too costly for non-profits such as Habitat to support. We want to prove that energy-saving devices and durable building materials do not significantly increase the construction costs and will be more than justified because they will undoubtedly creat long-term savings and improve the quality of environment within the home for our Habitat families.”

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Fusco Corporation was the main event sponsor. Additional sponsors were Turner Construction, Webster Bank, Yale-New Haven Hospital, NewAlliance Bank, DiBlasi Associates, Blum Shapiro, and the Owenego Inn. Proceeds from the event will be used to build two new Habitat homes this fall.

At the party, Habitat awarded its Master Builder Award to four honorees. The award recognizes individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to Habitat.

This year’s honorees are Knights of Columbus and Health Net for their sponsorship of two Habitat homes. Robert J. Lane, KOC Supreme Secretary Emeritus, and Peter Gladitsch, Chief Financial Officer, Health Net of the Northeast, Inc., accepted awards on behalf of their organizations. KOC and HealthNet each sponsored the building of a new Habitat home on Rosette Street in New Haven. In addition, their employees donated their time as volunteers to help build the houses.

Individual honorees Don Deloge and Lorraine Martin, both North Haven residents, are long time Habitat volunteers. Ms. Martin is a past president and former treasurer of Habitat’s Board of Directors. She has been active with Habitat since 1992. Mr. Deloge currently serves as co-chair of Sleeping Giant Build, one of the sponsor groups that raises funds and provides volunteers to build Habitat homes. He began regular volunteering with Habitat in 2000, after retiring as an assistant principal at North Haven High School.

Habitat plans to make the Summer Party an annual event.

Funds for the three Youth Days are being provided by a $5,000 grant from the International Association of New Haven (IANH). The purpose of the grant is to bring together 14- and 15-year old suburban and urban teens to perform community service on Habitat for Humanity projects. The third Youth Day will be held sometime in the fall.

The International Association of New Haven is a cultural and educational organization dedicated to supporting local projects that foster cultural understanding. IANH’s mission is to benefit local institutions that promote intercultural awareness and communication among groups of diverse ethnic, racial, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Visit their website at www.ianewhaven.org for more information about their work.

Youth Day #2 Volunteers at work