By Tim Vande Brake, Hamilton-Wenham News, October 13, 2025
Hamilton residents on Asbury Street have new neighbors just north of Asbury Grove, thanks to the dedication of new housing by Essex County Habitat for Humanity, a local branch of a global nonprofit that relies mainly on volunteer work and grants to put homeownership in reach.
Deanna Serino, a new homeowner through the program who lived in Boxford before moving to Hamilton, said the process began with a lottery-style drawing for applicants.
“Three years ago, I think, I won the lottery and I was jumping up and down. It’s been a long road, but I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned about construction and the procss of building homes,” Serino said. “It’s just me and my three kids moving into the three bedrooms. So we’re really excited, they’re ecstatic. The school system is great. The area is great.”
Habitat for Humanity, whose local branch is based in Danvers, involves future homeowners in the construction process. Serino said she spent around 300 hours in what the organization calls “sweat equity,” working alongside other volunteers to build her home and those of future neighbors from the ground up.
“Sweat equity” can also be applied to work in the Habitat ReStore, which sells new and used furniture, appliances, building materials, and other home goods.
The project on Asbury Street will include five Habitat duplexes – or 10 residences – in total. On Friday, the first four completed homes were dedicated.
Kevin Hudson, director of charitable giving at Essex County Habitat for Humanity, an ecumenical Christian organization, said the local branch is celebrating 40 years of work on the North Shore this year, having built 129 homes and rehabilitated 67 others during that time. Habitat for Humanity has 12 homes currently under construction in Essex County.
Hudson said construction through the organization takes longer since it relies on volunteer work. He said the group hopes to start a new project in Wenham – a duplex on Spring Hill Road – next year. It would be the second Habitat project in Wenham.
All homes built by the organization are kept under state affordability requirements in perpetuity, and are owned rather than rented by residents. In order to be homeowners, applicants must qualify for a low-interest 30-year affordable mortgage.
“They have to apply like they would for any homeowner to own a home. It’s just at a lower level for median income,” Hudson said.
Habitat for Humanity receives federal funding through the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), alongside funds from individual municipalities. Hudson said some funding may also become available through the state’s recently passed Affordable Housing Bill, although much of that legislation’s aid will target rentals, which the organization doesn’t build.
Hudson said federal funding cuts authorized under the Trump administration have created uncertainty, though thus far the local Habitat branch has not been denied federal grant funding.
“[In] the current budget that has not been passed yet, the House had completely zeroed out the amount of money that was going to go into HUD, and then the Senate put some of it back in,” Hudson said. “But we don’t really know what’s going to happen moving forward. We’re very concerned. It’s a considerable amount of money.”