Views from the Porch – October 2022 Enewsletter

Views from the Porch 

October 2022

Building Dreams Gala - beautiful and successful

On September 29, Essex County Habitat for Humanity hosted its biggest fundraiser of the year, the annual Building Dreams Gala, presented by Watts. The event, held at the lovely Glen Magna Farms in Danvers, raised over $150,000 which the organization will use to build affordable homes throughout Essex County. Guests enjoyed cocktail hour mingling about the property and indulging on several amazing small plate options, before heading into the main tent for the program.

Diane McClintock, board member and VP of FP&A and Investor Relations at lead sponsor Watts, kicked off the program. After President of the Board Richard Sumberg thanked guests, volunteers, board and staff for the important work they do to support Essex County Habitat’s mission, Meegan O’Neil, Executive Director of Essex County Habitat, took the podium. She stressed the importance of affordable housing, especially now that the lack thereof has reached crisis levels across the country.

“In the past 30 years, Massachusetts built half the number of homes as in the previous 30. With supply dramatically constrained, the cost of the housing that is available now has skyrocketed. Simply put, a working family can no longer afford to live here,” stated O’Neil

Yenny Moya brought some in the audience to tears when telling her emotional story of becoming a Future Habitat Homeowner and thanked volunteers, staff and guests for all they had done to enable her to become a first time homeowner. 

Additional sponsors of the event were Schernecker Property Services, Institution For Savings, Bixby International, Ebb & Flow, Eastern Bank, North Shore Bank, Coastal Windows and Exteriors, Dick and Lolli Sumberg, Brookline Bank, CM&B, Jackson Lumber, The Krall Family Foundation and Salem Five.

Why affordable housing matters - to everyone

Read some excerpts from a recent "Will the cost of housing tank the Massachusetts economy?" article in the Boston Globe:

(to read the full story click here)

“And for folks who make very good — but not biotech executive — salaries at Boston University, they can’t afford to buy what they could in Nashville or in Pittsburgh or in some other cities that are attractive places to live that do not have quite as hot a housing market.

We have way too little housing. It’s a classic case of supply and demand.”
- Boston University professor Katherine Einstein

The cost of housing may threaten the economic future of Massachusetts.

“We are facing a potential ‘brain drain’. In this hub of intellectual firepower, our most potent natural resource isn’t land or oil; it’s talented people. And when they can’t afford to live in the state, that’s a problem.”
- UMass Dartmouth professor Michael Goodman

The single biggest reason companies gave for reducing their footprint in Massachusetts was the “cost of living.”
- Per Massachusetts Business Roundtable survey

“The biggest headwind is our cost of housing. That is the thing that my children in particular pointed out to me, since two of three of them don’t live here anymore.”
- Governor Charlie Baker

Join the Building Dreams Society

By making a planned gift to Essex County Habitat, you will become a member of the Building
Dreams Society and have the satisfaction of knowing that you have made a lasting contribution to our mission of bringing people together to build affordable homes, strengthen families and communities, and foster hope.

The most common way to do this is a bequest where you name Essex County Habitat for Humanity as a beneficiary in a will. Other forms include donations of real estate, retirement plans, and life insurance policies.

To learn more, please contact our Director of Charitable Giving, Heather Johnston at development@essexcountyhabitat.org or by phone at 978.681.8858.

Thank you for your support

Many thanks to everyone who supported us on a build site or at a ReStore this past month! These are just a few of those who did:

Charles River Labs

Timescale Financial

First Religious Society of Newburyport

Endicott College students

Schneider Electric's 3 build days

We'd also like to recognize the following businesses that offered their support:

who donated the HVAC system for Salisbury.

How much did you really use that boat this summer?

By donating your boat, car, truck, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, snowmobile, farm equipment or construction equipment to Habitat you can help build and repair affordable homes while also helping the environment.

877-277-4344

www.habitat.org/carsforhomes

As you are probably aware, our two ReStore locations were merged into the Lawrence location, closing the Peabody location for business in September.  

We want to take this opportunity to publicly recognize the hard work and dedication of the Peabody staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly not only to open the store in 2017, operating it as a showroom while zoning changes were made, but also keeping it a profitable entity throughout the pandemic shutdown by focusing on online sales, and during the Store Closing sale selling off the last of the inventory.

We also want to thank all of the Peabody ReStore's customer for your patronage and for contributing to our mission through your donations and purchases. We urge you to continue to donate to the Lawrence location in the same way you always have - through the online donation form. We are still picking up donations throughout the North Shore area.

When you follow the Lawrence ReStore on Facebook, you'll find it too has amazing prices on fabulous merchandise!

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