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News from Starfish P.R.
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HABITAT FOR HUMANITY COMPLETES LYNWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD & WELCOMES THREE FAMILIES INTO NEW SUSTAINABLE HOMES
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As of: 8-18-2009
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Dedication Ceremony will Celebrate New Homeowner Partners - the Briggs, Martinez & Osborne Families
Los Angeles, CA – July 18, 2009: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (HFH GLA) and the City of Lynwood hosted a home dedication ceremony commemorating homeownership for the Briggs, Martinez and Osbourne families today from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. All three homes were built with sustainability features to help lower water and utility bills and the Martinez family home is ADA approved and wheelchair accessible. The ceremony also highlighted the many volunteers who helped build these green homes in exactly one year including all of the Power Women who began framing them one year ago. Habitat for Humanity President/CEO Erin Rank led a presentation as the partner families received the keys to the new homes they helped build.
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles works in partnership with low-income families to combat the affordable housing crisis. Los Angeles ranks last in the U.S. in housing affordability with countless families forced to live in substandard conditions. Prior to partnering with HFH GLA, April Briggs and her two children, lived with her parents in a home with unstable floors, faulty electrical wiring and a bathroom plagued with mildew that made the air unbreathable. DaJuan Osbourne and her two children also lived in a home with mildew, poor ventilation and a vermin problem so bad they often had to live without phone service because the mice would chew through the wires. The Osbourne Family home was also funded completely by Youth United and built by many of this year's Act! Speak! Build! Week participants. Guadalupe and Lorena Martinez and their three children were confined to a small bedroom most of the day and were given only limited access to the bathroom and kitchen. Their situation was complicated by the fact that their 12 year-old son, Ceaser, has cerebral palsy and was not allowed by the landlord to bring his wheelchair inside the house. All three families have all completed 500+ hours of “sweat equity” building their home and will pay back a zero-interest rate loan.
Habitat for Humanity makes homeownership possible for families who earn less than 80% of the median household income and in Greater Los Angeles the organization currently reports a less than 1% default rate. These homes are sponsored by: The City of Lynwood, Beach Cities Friends of Habitat for Humanity, Youth United, Buildable Hours, FHL Bank San Francisco, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, State Farm, D2D Golf Marathon and The Mullin Family.
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GREATER LOS ANGELES strives to eliminate poverty housing through advocacy, education and partnership with families in need to build simple, decent affordable housing. Since 1990, HFH GLA has built nearly 500 homes locally
and worldwide, transforming the lives of hundreds of individuals. For more information, visit www.habitatla.org
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Contacts:
Jo-An Turman
Habitat for Humanity GLA
T: 310-323-4663 x121
C: 213-819-1519
jturman@habitatla.org
Alison Mullin
Starfish P.R.
C : 310-560-4049 (on site)
info@starfish-pr.com
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