Essex County Habitat for Humanity breaks ground on newest affordable homeownership project in Lawrence
Lawrence, MA – December 16, 2021 Gold shovels scooped up fresh dirt at the ground breaking ceremony for Essex County Habitat for Humanity’s newest affordable homeownership project in Lawrence. The property will include two units; a three-bedroom and a four-bedroom, and provide two families with the foundation for success and a better future.
Meegan O’Neil, Executive Director of Essex County Habitat for Humanity kicked off the event by explaining that the future success of a homeowner is due to the partnership Habitat creates between the family and elected officials, volunteers and donors who all work together to build the home.
Board Chair, Richard Sumberg, went on to say “We haven’t been building in Lawrence the last couple years, but most of those 150 homes are in Lawrence,” referring to the number of houses Habitat has built since its founding in 1985. He also recognized the pro-bono work done by engineers as well as the many volunteer builders in attendance.
Having been instrumental in getting funding for Habitat through the ARPA bill, State Senator Barry Finegold stated “Lawrence, Mass has had the 3rd largest growth in population of any single city in the Commonwealth of Mass. Which is really great, but the problem is that we don’t have enough affordable housing here in the city. And that is why the project we’re doing with Habitat is so important.”
Closing out the ceremony was Mayor Brian De Pea who thanked Habitat for their commitment to the city of Lawrence.
The homes will take about 18 months to complete at which time two deserving families, selected by lottery, will take ownership and begin building their new futures.
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