Hammer, nails and heart build a home

Local churches join forces on Habitat for Humanity project

BY LAYLI WHYTE Staff Writer

BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer

Norman Weber, Lincroft, and Bob Lightburn, Point Pleasant (above), members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Lincroft, work on a wall of a Habitat for Humanity house in Red Bank on Aug. 10, while David Gibbons, Oakcrest, president of the Long Branch chapter, works on a stud.  Norman Weber, Lincroft, and Bob Lightburn, Point Pleasant (above), members of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Lincroft, work on a wall of a Habitat for Humanity house in Red Bank on Aug. 10, while David Gibbons, Oakcrest, president of the Long Branch chapter, works on a stud. A house built with love is a home.Construction has begun on Red Bank’s first Habitat for Humanity home, located on Leighton Avenue.

The cement foundation is nearing completion, but it is the foundation of volunteers that will really hold this house up.

Ten local churches have created a coalition to support Habitat for Humanity of Long Branch with their donations of time and money.

PHOTOSBYMIGUEL JUAREZ staff  PHOTOSBYMIGUEL JUAREZ staff St. James Church, Red Bank, First Assembly of God, Shrewsbury; Christ Church Episcopal, Shrewsbury; First Presbyterian Church of Red Bank, Holmdel United Church of Christ; Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Red Bank, First Baptist Church of Red Bank, United Methodist Church of Red Bank, Shrewsbury Avenue AME Zion Church, Red Bank, Trinity Episcopal Church, Red Bank and Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Lincroft.

The 35-by-210-foot parcel of land was donated by the borough for the purpose of providing a needy family with a home they can call their own.

According to David Gibbons, president of the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity, it is not often that a borough donates land, despite the fact that it is a tax-deductible donation.

“The dilemma for them is that if the borough auctions the property off, they can make a killing,” he said in an interview last October, after the land was first donated. “It’s a source of income.”

The house will be built by the power of volunteers on Wednesdays and Saturdays until the house is completed, inspected and ready for the family to move in, according to Frank Bridge, construction coordinator for Habitat for Humanity for the past one-and-a-half years. He has more than 60 years’ experience in building.

The Red Bank house is the second Habitat house for Bridge, as he also worked on a duplex, recently completed in Middletown.

“That one came out really nice,” he said, during an interview at the construction site last week.

Although the house is now just a shell, when it is completed, according to Bridge, it will be a two-story, three-bedroom, two-bath home for a local family.

“It takes about eight to nine months to complete a house like this working only on Wednesdays and Saturdays,” said Bridge, “weather permitting.”

Bridge said that the architectural work was done pro bono by the local firm of Kaplan, Gaunt, DeSantis Architects, Maple Avenue.

Bob Lightburn, Point Pleasant, is a member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, and also started out as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity during construction of the Middletown house.

He said that he really sees the need for an organization like this, especially in this area.

“It’s a good cause,” said Lightburn, “because there is so much demand and so little available, especially in Monmouth County, because the land is so expensive.”

He said that more than 80 qualified families submitted applications to be considered as recipients for the Middletown house, and that only two families could be chosen for a space in the duplex.

“They had to pick their names out of a hat,” he said.

“Low-income families are being driven out of the area, and that’s a tragedy,” said Gibbons. “It will be interesting over the next 25 years to see how the community deals with this.”

The family has already been chosen for this house, according to Gibbons, who said a family is chosen by meeting three criteria.

A family applying for a Habitat house must earn a total household income between $25,000 to $37,500 annually.

The family must also be willing to work, either on their own house, another house, or help in fundraising for the organization.

It must also be established that the home the family is currently living in is substandard or inadequate. This could mean the house is in poor condition, too costly, too small or in a bad neighborhood.

Gibbons said that normally, the first family to apply that meets all of the criteria is chosen for the house.

Once chosen by the organization, the family is then able to purchase the house at cost.

Gibbons said that a house like the one being built on Leighton Avenue should end up costing between $70,000 and $75,000. The family is also given a zero percent interest mortgage.

According to Gibbons, the family that has been chosen to receive this house has a child who is wheelchair bound.

“We’ll make it work for them for whatever they need,” he said.

Bridge explained that the entire rear of the first story of the home will be reserved as a bedroom for the disabled child, complete with her own wheelchair-accessible bathroom.

The driveway will extend for the length of the house and wrap around back, where it will connect with a ramp leading to the back door.

Lightburn said one of the reasons he volunteers with Habitat is because he enjoys working side by side with the family that the house is being built for as they put in their “sweat equity.”

“I like the camaraderie,” he said. “I like working with my hands and learning new skills.”

Lightburn said that he has been financially supporting the organization for quite a while, but now that he has retired, he is glad to be working at something more “hands-on.”

Anthony Fusco, a member of Trinity Church, said that he has volunteered before.

“This is a new thing for our church,” he said. “We’ve never been a part of the coalition before.”

The member churches of the coalition, according to Fusco, each have to raise funds, pledging a certain amount of money toward the project.