Dear Habitat Friend,
Spring is here! I am very excited to be starting on the site work for our two new homes in Ashburnham, and to be able to work on more critical home repair projects now that it is getting warmer. We are currently working on repair projects in Leominster, Gardner, Littleton and Athol, and expect to have a busy summer with our repair program. Thank you to the volunteers who come to help with these much-needed repairs and to our supporters who help fund them!
It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Spring Breakfast last week. Our keynote speaker, Marian McMahon Stanley, spoke movingly about everyone having a story to tell, followed by our new homeowners, Sheryl and Amina, telling the stories of their journey to home ownership. My gratitude to Senator Jamie Eldridge for joining us to talk about the state of housing in Massachusetts, and for all of his work for affordable housing in our communities. A big thank you also to our event sponsors, DCU, Workers Credit Union, Avidia Bank, bankHometown, Enterprise Bank, and The Lexvest Group.
At the event, Patrick McCarty, past Board President and current Board Member, was awarded a golden hammer for his dedication and service to Habitat NCM, an award very much earned through his many hours spent helping local families to have safe, affordable homes to call their own. A huge milestone was also recognized at the event --
EXIT New Options Real Estate and
EXIT Assurance Realty (shown above) have now donated over $80,000 to help our building projects. Amazing to see how many homes they have helped build in the last few years and how many families they have helped to come home!
I hope you will join us tomorrow at our first ever meat raffle. The Ashburnham Local Project Committee planned this fun event being held at the Ashburnham American Legion on for
May 18th from 2:00-5:00 pm. You can stock up for your Memorial Day weekend barbecue while helping us buy materials for the new homes!
One final word of advocacy for affordable housing. There are a number of bills in the works in the state right now and I encourage you to contact your state representatives to learn more about each bill.
Thank you all for your support for our mission and your help in building strength, security and self-reliance through shelter.
In partnership and gratitude,
Carolyn
