A Dream Comes True in Brooklyn, Owning Your Own Home
By Tequila Minsky, Heritagekonpa Magazine
On a brisk and sunny morning, Marlene Petithomme-Pierre gazed into a newly excavated hole on a corner lot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
She could close her eyes and imagine the three-story home that will rise on this site within a year--a home that she and her family will own, thanks to Habitat for Humanity - New York City.
"This is something I hoping for many years to be, owner of a house. It's a dream
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become true," says Petithomme, who emigrated to the U.S. from Port-au-Prince in 1982, her husband, Francois Pierre is from Cape Haitien.
She and members of the five additional families who will own homes on the site joined Habitat-NYC, funders, faith leaders and volunteers on Oct. 20 to break ground at the corner of Halsey Street and Marcus Garvey Avenue. Each of the six homes will be a three-story attached townhouse, featuring three bedrooms, two baths, backyards and a playspace for children. Families should be able to move in within a year.
Like Petithomme, all of the future homeowners will work alongside volunteers to construct the houses, contributing a minimum of 300 hours of "sweat-equity" per adult. Although homebuilding will be a new skill for Petithomme, she says she is eager to begin framing walls, sheet rocking, installing plumbing and heating systems, tiling--and all the other chores that go into construction.
"I'm a hardworking woman. I have no problem to work in "sweat equity," she says, smiling as she adds: "As long as I have coffee, I don't have any problem to work."
Petithomme works as a home health aide and her husband Francois Pierre is a mechanic in a factory in Manhattan that makes guitar strings. Currently, the couple lives with their four children ages 7-15 in a cramped, one-bedroom apartment in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
In fact, it was through her job that Petithomme learned about Habitat-NYC. The woman she cares for is a Habitat donor, who encouraged her to apply. To be eligible for a Habitat home, New Yorkers must be earning between 50 to 80 percent of median income ($28,000 to $58,000, depending on family size) and living in substandard or overcrowded conditions.
It took almost two years from the first outreach informational meeting that Petithomme attended to the final approval of her family's application. When the acceptance letter arrived, Petithomme began to cry with joy. She says now: "I feel so excited, it's like a miracle, my dream come true."
Sweat equity will replace a down payment. When the homes are completed, Petithomme and the other families will assume affordable 30-year mortgages. Habitat-NYC will help arrange the mortgages and trains future homeowners in financial skills and prepares them with home maintenance and other skills necessary to successful homeownership. In return, resale restrictions will help keep the Habitat homes affordable for the future.
In addition to homeowner's sweat equity and the many hours of labor contributed by volunteers, support for the Bed-Stuy homes includes: Bear Stearns Fixed Income Division will provide $500,000 and more than 900 volunteers in an unprecedented sponsorship of four of the homes; The Willard and Aura Charitable Trust is sponsoring two homes with a grant of $200,000; The Independence Community Foundation is providing $20,000 per home as part of a $5 million, five-year-pledge to support all Habitat-NYC homes; and The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development provided the land for a fee of $1.
“These homes represent Habitat-NYC’s collaborative, community-based approach to affordable housing,” said Roland Lewis, Executive Director of Habitat-NYC. “More than 750,000 families are living doubled-up or in deplorable conditions and more than 40,000 New Yorkers are homeless. We cannot solve this housing crisis alone, and I am heartened to see people from all sectors of New York City joining together, rolling up our sleeves and working to create homes."
Another future homeowner is Mary Torres, a homemaker with three children aged four, five and 16. She and her husband Miguel--her high school sweetheart--have been married 18 years.
Torres explains: "We live in Williamsburg, tending our mother-in-law, who was sick. She's better now, and we are able to move into our own home. My husband heard through a co-worker about Habitat.
She adds, "We are excited, and we'll do whatever it takes to have our own home. We have small children that'll be able to grow up in their own home."
The homeowners-to-be include Andrea Francis, a teacher and mother of two, who was born only two blocks away. She currently lives nearby in a tiny two-bedroom apartment with her children and three additional relatives. She says her family is thrilled “to be able to take part in the American dream. And the fact that I have such a personal relationship with the neighborhood makes it even more profound."
Joining the families and Habitat-NYC in the groundbreaking celebration were: Brooklyn
Borough President Marty Markowitz; Assemblywoman Annette Robinson; Christopher Hoeffel, Co-Head of Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities Group; Marilyn Gelber of Independence Community Foundation; the Rev. Eugene Sheridan of St. John the Baptist Church; Aura Levitas of the Willard and Aura Levitas Charitable Trust; who remembers what it felt when she first became a homeowner. “We are just so very happy,” she said.
“I’m a great believer in people having decent homes,” said Aura Levitas, who is funding two of the homes. And I’m a great admirer of Habitat, and I was born and raised in Brooklyn. So helping to create these homes goes back to my roots.”
“This project provides an opportunity for Bear Stearns to continue our support of Habitat for Humanity - New York City and to demonstrate our commitment to the City of New York,” said Christopher Hoeffel, who helped organize the Bear Stearns fundraising effort.
“The on-going partnership between Independence Community Foundation and Habitat-NYC has resulted in an urban Habitat model that has built beautiful new affordable homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant and beyond. It is a model of how private philanthropy and a great non-profit can join forces with the faith community and the public sector to achieve the dream of home ownership in New York City for families in need,” said Marilyn Gelber, Executive Director of the Independence Community Foundation.
Borough President Marty Markowitz beaming with enthusiasm for Brooklyn said, “Nothing fills Brooklynites with more pride for living in the greatest city in America than home ownership, which is why Habitat for Humanity’s new homes in Bed-Stuy are such a great success story.
I congratulate all of the new homeowners on getting their own piece of the Promised Land. Every day we strive to ensure that Brooklyn residents of every income level, race and ethnicity have a chance to make their dreams come true. These affordable homes are a prime example of government, the private sector, and our local communities working together to preserve the economic diversity that defines Brooklyn.”
A total list of sponsors for these homes include: Bear Stearns and Company, Inc., Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation; Federal Home Loan Bank; Henry Niles Foundation; Independence Community Foundation; New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development; New York State Affordable Housing Corp., New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal, New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation, The Office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Starr Foundation; US Department of Housing and Development; and the Willard and Aura Levitas Charitable Trust.
The work of Habitat for Humanity nation wide is well publicized and known. Transforming lives through decent, affordable housing and uniting all New Yorkers around the cause is Habitat-NYC's mission. 150 affordable homes have been built citywide with the harnessed energy of more than 10,000 volunteers.