Habitat for Humanity has recently completed three new homes for three Pittsburgh families.
The most notable of the homes, perhaps, is what's being called the Steelers Champions House. More than half the funding for the three-bedroom home was raised by two Habitat affiliates in Florida during the 2009 Super Bowl in Tampa. Construction kicked off in June with the help of several prominent Steelers players. The home is the fourth of a planned development of nine on Chessland Street in Westwood, Pa., between Crafton and Green Tree. The homes, which cost Habitat about $100,000 to build through donations and volunteer labor recently appraised for more than $130,000.
The Champions home was dedicated over the weekend, and keys were presented to the new homeowner--Debra Miller--who is raising her three grandsons, ages 5, 7 and 10.
In addition to that new construction, Habitat has finished two renovations of older homes donated to the organization. A single mother and her three sons (including one in a wheelchair) moved into a renovated two-bedroom, handicap-accessible house on McNary Boulevard in Wilkinsburg a couple weeks ago; and a single mother and her daughter are set to move into a renovated two-bedroom house on Lenox Avenue in Forest Hills in early December.
All Habitat homes receive energy-efficient windows and doors, and most receive Energy Star appliances, to cut back on costs for homeowners.
Since 1986, when it was founded locally, Habitat for Humanity has built 65 homes in the Pittsburgh area, not including the three recent ones. Last year, Habitat completed six homes with the help of about 350 volunteers. In 2010, the organization is planning to focus on renovating a home in Braddock with the help of local university students.
"It is the right of every human being to have a decent place to live," says Derek Morris, Habitat's volunteer coordinator. "To have people living in Pittsburgh who have no electricity or running water is a crime. We're interested in doing whatever we can to stop that.
"The most important thing about home ownership is that it really does provide families with an entirely fresh start. When they become homeowners, they begin to earn better credit, they typically move into better school districts, and they have more access to food and health services."
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Writer: Caralyn Green
Source: Derek Morris, Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity
Photograph courtesy Habitat for Humanity