Our 2nd Annual Night Out With Habitat highlighted several successes over the life of this affiliate:
- 32 homes built and sold to qualified homeowners
- Our 1st Mortgage Burning Ceremony
- $8,250 raised
- A Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) partnership with the City of Deltona.
- 124 Friends of Habitat in attendance
But there is always more below the water line that frequently goes unrecognized. In those 32 homes, Habitat families have raised over 100 children (and counting) and a growing number of grandchildren. Marianne and John Askins spoke about what role their home played in raising their family. And now, with no mortgage, they have a degree of financial security that they may not have had without Habitat.
According to the Shimberg Center for Housing at the University of Florida, an investment in affordable housing is a very good investment for the local economy. For each $1 spent in affordable housing construction, $24 of economic activity is generated. The $8,250 raised from our Night Out will accordingly translate to $198,000 in economic activity for SW Volusia. Continuing along those lines, the 3 homes Habitat and the City of Deltona have contracted to build will result in $300,000 spent and $7.2 million in economic activity generated.
Thank you to all who came out to show your support for Habitat's efforts and our cause, for the hard work our dedicated and passionate volunteers and staff have performed over the 21 years we have been in existence. While we see what's been accomplished above the water line, we can't always discern what the effect below the water line has been. Those in attendance heard Brent Lacy, Executive Director, speak to his newly acquired perspective on what his home means to him. Let's leave it at this: "A comprehensive, coordinated approach to healthy homes will result in the greatest public health impact," Dr. Steven K. Galston, acting U.S. surgeon general, declared in his 2009 report to the nation. "Directing resources toward a single disease or condition rather than working to improve the overall housing environment is inefficient and does not address residents' health and safety risks holistically." What's below Habitat's water line needs to be recognized to a much larger degree, and celebrated.
Our newest home, 1242 Abagail Drive, is well under way with the excited oversight of Moses and Edwina Cardona. They are on the job every Saturday, working and sometimes providing a surprise lunch for the volunteers. Thank you to the City of Deltona, to Mayor John Masiarczyk, Faith Miller, Commissioner Mike Carmolingo and Scott McGrath for your presence and support.
