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Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on Boardman home
BOARDMAN
Angel Thompson, 22, grew up in a house built by Habitat for Humanity of the Mahoning Valley.
Later this year, she will move into a Habitat home with her own children.
HFHMV on Tuesday had a groundbreaking ceremony for the Erskine Avenue home in which Thompson and her children, Alvin, 2, and Ahlina, 1 month, will live.
Thompson decided to go through the monthslong process of buying a house through Habitat “so my kids can have somewhere to grow up in,” she said. “We live in an apartment complex.”
The house is the 139th Habitat will build locally since the organization was founded in 1989.
Habitat for Humanity builds houses for low- income families and individuals. People who get housing through Habitat must complete between 250 and 500 volunteer hours with Habitat and attend homeowner courses. At the end of the process, they purchase the homes from Habitat. Habitat homeowners pay affordable mortgage rates with zero percent interest.
“Homeownership rates in this country are at the lowest they’ve been in decades,” said Monica Craven, HFHMV executive director.
Habitat aims to give low-income people a chance at the stability that comes with owning a home.
“It makes a difference for the kids to go to the same school every year,” Craven said. “It provides that stability for them.”
The Erskine Avenue project will cost approximately $120,000, with about $80,000 coming from the Youngstown Columbiana Association of Realtors. The group has worked for about two years to raise money for the project.
“We put people in homes every day,” said Sue Filipovich of Burgan Realty, who during her tenure as YCAR board president helped start the fundraising project. “The No. 1 American dream is homeownership. Being able to give that to someone else is what it’s all about.”
Thompson’s case is unique, Craven said, because she has lived in a Habitat home before. Her family bought a Habitat home on the East Side of Youngstown.
“We’re able to see the difference it made in her life,” Craven said. “It makes you feel like you did something good 15 years ago.”
Habitat plans to raise the walls on the Erskine Avenue home some time in May. YCAR members and volunteers will build the home. Anyone who is interested in volunteering can sign up online at www.HabitatMahoning.org/volunteer/construction or contact the HFHMV at 330-743-7244, ext. 302, or at volunteer@habitatmahoning.org.
As shovels hit the ground Tuesday, Thompson was at a loss for words. She held her sleeping son in her arms.
“Thank you,” she said.