Views from the Porch - September/October 2025 E-Newsletter

Views from the Porch

September/October 2025 News

Lauren, Deanna, Meegan O'Neil, Andrea and State Representative Kristin Kassner

Welcome Home in Hamilton

Three weeks ago we celebrated the completion of Phase 1 of the affordable home development in Hamilton with a Home Dedication. Guest speaker Jamie Knudsen, Chair of the Hamilton Affordable Housing Trust, who provided funding for the project, spoke of the importance of permanently affordable housing in Hamilton, thanked Habitat for bringing more to the town and welcomed the new homeowners to their new community.

All in attendance then read a housewarming: "We offer you flowers so that your home may always know beauty. Bread so your home may never know hunger. Salt to remind you that life should have a little zest. Sugar to remind you that life is sweet. A candle so your home never knows darkness. And a quilt so you will always be warm," as a basket was presented to the moms.

Congratulations to Lauren, Deanna, Andrea and Yaddira on their new homes!

Building Dreams Gala a success

With your support, we raised over $185,000 to build affordable homes in Essex County at last week's Building Dreams Gala!

Thank you for helping local families in this life changing way. Families like Tina Lloyd's, who proudly shared her story and how owning a Habitat home enabled her to send her two daughters to college.

Congratulations to Watts Water Technologies who received the Community Builder Award for standing alongside Habitat for 37 years, generously sharing their time, talent and resources to help build safe, stable, and affordable homes.

And cheers to Richard and Lolli Sumberg, Keystone Partner Award honorees! For decades, the Sumbergs have been champions of Habitat’s mission, offering not only their generous support but also their leadership and passion for expanding access to affordable housing.

And thank you again to all of our generous sponsors and donors:

Please take a look at the rest of the photos from the evening:

See the photos

Building Community

Please enjoy this article from the September issue of North Shore Magazine celebrating our 40th anniversary:

BUILDING COMMUNITY

Essex County Habitat for Humanity celebrates 40 years of creating affordable housing opportunities on the North Shore.

For Valbona Lavdari, purchasing a home in Haverhill from Habitat for Humanity 20 years ago was more than simply getting a place to live. It jump-started the rest of her family’s life. Lavdari and her husband, Leonard Ndrecka, moved to the United States in 1999 from their native Albania by way of Greece in search of better economic opportunities. They found that and more with Habitat for Humanity.

“It was much more than having a house with zero down payment,” Lavdari says. “It helped us so much to progress in our lives and in our ambitions.”

Lavdari and Ndrecka are far from alone. Essex County Habitat for Humanity serves all 34 cities and towns in Essex County and has built 129 homes and rehabbed or repaired 67 more.

Accessible Homeownership

When most people think about Habitat for Humanity, they think of President Jimmy Carter and fleets of volunteer homebuilders.

“Habitat today is a lot more than that,” says Meegan O’Neil, Essex County Habitat for Humanity’s executive director. “We are an affordable housing organization, but the thing that makes us different is we are focused on affordable home ownership.”

To read the rest of the story, please click here.

Support families like Valbona's

Congressman Moulton Team Day of Service

Essex County Habitat for Humanity hosted Congressman Moulton and 20 members of his team for a day of service, helping to build 10 homes in Hamilton. As part of that, we were able to emphasize to them the importance of federal funding, especially CDBG, which we use to fund our Critical Home Repair program, and HOME and SHOP programs, which we use for our new builds. The HOME program is the second largest source of funding for our new builds, second only to the income from the sale of the home.

Congressman Moulton is a supporter of economic stability and affordable housing, and we appreciate his involvement.

Thank you for your support

Many thanks to everyone who supported us on a build site or at the ReStore this past month. Below are just a few of those who did.

Endicott Women's Tennis

Tuesday Fall Women Build

PCA

Friday Fall Women Build

Carrier

Saturday Fall Women Build

We'd also like to recognize the following organization that offered its support:

Thank you to NorthEast Community Bank for their generous donation to support the acquisition of the 512 Washington St, Haverhill Property.

Cars For Homes

“Our car brought me across the country and back for a summer job in 2010 — three adults, one large dog and one bicycle on the back! It brought both of our girls home — one from the hospital at birth, the other from her foster parents' home to us, her adoptive family.

I chose Habitat because it was a special organization to my mother-in-law, who we lost in 2011. She was the executive director for the Worcester affiliate (I believe). Housing was an incredibly important issue to her, and continues to be for my husband, her son.”

Kellyn, Boston, Massachusetts

To donate your vehicle to Cars For Homes, call 1-877-277-4344 or visit https://www.essexcountyhabitat.org/donate-a-vehicle/

Get ready for the holidays with great discounts storewide!

Up to 50% off everything* including dining sets for holiday meals, seating for gathering friends, beds for visiting guests, and so much more!. Stop by on Friday, November 14th and Saturday, November 15th between 10am and 5pm to take advantage of these amazing prices!

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, ReStore