By KAREN RAPOLLA
Staff Writer
Habitat for Humanity in Monmouth County (HFHMC) and Long Branch High School (LBHS) held a home dedication and blessing in Long Branch on Nov. 17 to welcome the Nolan family to their new home.
The charming two-story home on Seventh Avenue was the collaborative work effort of Mike Nolan and his wife, Samantha, and their two children, Travis and Alexandria, along with volunteers from HFHMC and LBHS.
In March of 2016, HFHMC and LBHS launched the House that Youth Built project, a collaboration between LBHS’s Project Lead the Way program and HFHMC.
The House that Youth Built is a youth-based service project that engages schools and youth organizations to help raise the funds needed to help a family in need have a home or return home after a disaster.
The Nolan family of Long Branch worked alongside with the many volunteers to make their dream of homeownership a reality.
Mike Nolan is a proud new homeowner and longtime manager at the Windmill Restaurant in Long Branch.
“For the past eight months, I have been here every weekend and both my days off during the week, working alongside with these dedicated group of volunteers. This dream of owning my own home for my family would not have been possible without this organization, and I am so grateful to everyone involved,” he said.
Nolan was a Salvation Army volunteer in 2013, serving meals to hundreds of volunteers as part of Habitat for Humanity’s Carter Work Project in Union Beach that assisted families affected by superstorm Sandy. He even had the chance to meet two of Habitat’s most famous ambassadors, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.
Since then, he has continued to volunteer, not only with the Salvation Army, but also as a Habitat for Humanity construction volunteer on several of their projects.
“The organization does so much to help a family that needs and deserves help, and I was happy to volunteer my time and hard work in any way I could. I found it to be a very gratifying experience,” he said.
His wife, Samantha Nolan added, “We were so very grateful to be selected to be the partner family for the next project.”
The partnership between HFHMC and LBHS has been a year in the making, spearheaded by Dennis O’Keefe, an LBHS teacher and the Project Lead the Way monitor.
Project Lead the Way is a civil engineering program at LBHS where students apply science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) to solve complex, open-ended problems in a real-world context. They developed the architectural plans for the home, and combined with their hard work, the dedicated students engaged both community spirit alongside with civic responsibilities.The students gained not only an education, but actual hands-on skills as they worked side by side with experienced volunteers and professionals.
Funding for the House that Youth Built project had been provided through grants and fundraising. The land for this house was donated by the City of Long Branch, and as part of the traditional Habitat for Humanity procedure, the Nolan family spent “sweat equity” hours working alongside the students and volunteers to build their home and will purchase the home with a 0 percent interest mortgage.
“The Nolan family worked side by side with many of the kids from Long Branch High School to make this house their home,” said Ric Siciliano, committee chair of Resource Development at Habitat for Humanity. ”The Habitat for Humanity of Monmouth County and its’ volunteers have helped a number of hard-working, deserving families that needed a hand up, not a handout, to own a safe home to live in dignity.”
New homeowner Samantha Nolan, filled with emotion, expressed her gratitude to the organization and the hard-working volunteers and students at the home dedication celebration.
“We will never forget the hard work and hours you put into helping us build our home. Always know that you are welcome to come by our home and say ‘hello’ — this home that you helped us build. Without your dedication and hard work and the generous donations, and the City of Long Branch for the donation of the land, and, of course, all the people at Habitat for Humanity, our dream of owning this home would not have been possible, and I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart,” she said.
Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-Monmouth, Middlesex), unable to attend the dedication due to a House of Representatives session in Washington, D.C., sent a letter commending the organization, City of Long Branch, LBHS and all those involved in the Nolan family home project for their commitment to the success of the House that Youth Built program.
For more information, visit www.habitatmonmouth.org.