Future Salisbury and Andover Habitat Homes Slated for Veteran Families
Lawrence, MA — Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity (MVHH) handed over the keys for two newly completed homes in Lawrence, MA to veterans Isodoro Velasquez and Joseph Maldonado on April 12, 2018. Built with donated funds and materials from a wide variety of sources and close to 13,000 hours of volunteer labor, the Velasquez and Maldonado families, who contributed more than 350 hours of their own volunteer time, purchased these homes at an affordable price with a no-profit Habitat loan, and their mortgage payments will be used to build more Habitat houses. Habitat began this home build by working closely with the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center (VNOC) and other local Lawrence veteran’s organizations, who helped select the Velasquez and Maldonado families to be the Habitat for Humanity homeowners.
Isodoro Velasquez is a Vietnam veteran, and he and his wife, Ordalisa Mercedez, have a grown son living with them, who is autistic. Joseph Maldonado served in the U.S. Army National Guard, and he and his wife, Diana Santos, have two young sons. Both families have their own unique stories of hardship, loss of loved ones, and relocation to Lawrence due to economic circumstances.
Diana Santos said, “We are so happy that we are going to have a house.” And, Ordalisa Mercedez shared her happiness by saying, “We are blessed. We are so grateful. Our house is beautiful and our son is so happy.”
“These homes were our first ‘Veterans Build’ and we received great support from VNOC and the community. We are grateful for the donations, financial support and volunteer labor which made it possible to build the homes. We know there is a need to be filled and this is not our only Veterans Build. MVHH will start building in Salisbury and Andover in the Summer of 2018. At least one unit in each town will be earmarked for a veteran family.” says Randy Larson, MVHH Executive Director.
Institution for Savings [Newburyport, MA] partnered with MVHH in this project by owning the first mortgages. The mortgage papers were prepared by Bill Dalton from Dalton & Finegold LLP [Andover, MA] – a pro-bono contribution to assist MVHH.
After signing all the required papers, the families were presented with the keys to their new homes. Present at the property closings were:
Isodoro Velasquez and Ordalisa Mercedez [Lawrence, MA]
Joseph Maldonado and Diana Santos and sons [Lawrence, MA]
William Dalton, founding partner of Dalton & Finegold LLP [Andover, MA]
Lawrence R. Hunter, Senior Vice President of Institution for Savings [Newburyport, MA]
Kate Bauer, Institution for Savings [Newburyport, MA]
Randy Larson, MVHH Executive Director [Merrimac, MA]
Roxanna Mota, MVHH Family Services Manager [Lawrence, MA]
Donors and supporters of the Lawrence Veterans Build included:
Abbot & Dorothy H Stevens Foundation [North Andover, MA]
ADP, LLC
Bank of America Charitable Foundation
Berkshire Bank Foundation
Catherine McCarthy Memorial Trust
Charles Hope Companies [North Andover, MA]
Charles River Labs
Charlesbank Homes [Winchester, MA]
Cummings Foundation [Woburn, MA]
Highland Street Foundation [Newton, MA]
Home Depot Foundation
Northshore Home Magazine [Andover, MA]
Rogers Family Foundation [Boston, MA]
Schneider Electric
Smith Purdon Fund [Andover, MA]
TD Charitable Foundation
The Financial Advisors [Andover, MA]
Watts Water Technologies [Andover, MA]
WEI (WorldCom Exchange, Inc.) [Salem, NH]
