ROTTERDAM, N.Y. — Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County, Inc. (HFHSC) volunteers, donors, board members and staff officially presented the Dingle family with keys to their new home on Wednesday, July 17, along with several gifts from the organization and community. The brand-new, four-bedroom, two-story home is located on Cramer Avenue in Rotterdam. It replaces a vacant and deteriorated house that sat empty for decades. In 2020, the Capital Region Land Bank and Schenectady County worked together to demolish the structure to make way for this project. HFHSC broke ground on the home in late March of last year. The construction of the home was funded by the generous support of IUE-CWA as well as through private donations and business sponsorships.
“It takes a community to build and support these homes, and we are grateful for everyone’s participation in this project, our 63rd house in Schenectady County,” said Kathy Fernandez, Executive Director of HFHSC. “Our greatest joy is when we get to hand the house keys over to an excited, deserving family from our community.”
Richard Ruzzo, Chairman of the Capital Region Land Bank and a member of the Schenectady County Legislature said, “Our team is proud to partner with Habitat for Humanity to remove blighted buildings and create new affordable home ownership opportunities. Working with Schenectady County, the Land Bank demolished a long-blighted property on Cramer Avenue that was vacant for many years and turned this property over to Habitat so they could build a new home improving the quality of life for neighbors and helping a young family find a home.”
At the completion of construction or rehabilitation of each house, Schenectady Habitat offers the partner family the opportunity to mark the occasion with a Home Dedication Ceremony. The event celebrates the hard work and determination of a working-class family who is realizing the dream of first-time home purchase and ownership.
Through volunteer labor and donations of money and materials, HFHSC builds and rehabilitates simple, affordable houses alongside homebuyer partner families. In addition to a down payment and monthly mortgage payments, homeowners invest two hundred hours of their own labor into building with Habitat. Habitat houses are sold to partner families at no profit and financed with affordable, low-interest loans.
This is HFHSC’s second Habitat home located in the Town of Rotterdam. The first was completed in 2019, also in partnership with Schenectady County and the Capital Region Land Bank.
About Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County, Inc.
Founded in 1993, Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County, Inc. is a locally run affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. Habitat is a globally recognized nonprofit housing organization dedicated to eliminating substandard housing locally through constructing, rehabilitating and preserving homes, by advocating for fair and just housing policies, and by providing training and access to resources to help families improve their shelter conditions. Additional information is available at www.schenectadyhabitat.org.
Contact:
Kathy Fernandez
Executive Director
518.395.3412 x 106 (W)
kfernandez@schenectadyhabitat.org