LANCASTER, Pa. — Becoming a homeowner can be difficult but Lancaster Lebanon Habitat for Humanity is hoping to provide families with the tools they need to achieve that goal.
"We're focused on making first-time homebuyers and the way we do that is we work with volunteers to help build, and subcontractor partners to help construct the homes with a great deal of quality," said Andrew Szalay, President and CEO of Lancaster Lebanon Habitat for Humanity.
"Then we have our donor partners which are here to be able to help fund and make these homes affordable and then we sell them to a Habitat low-income homebuyer for an affordable mortgage," said Szalay.
Wednesday, they broke ground on a new home construction project, as well as a new opportunity with local construction company Ebersole Builders.
"Habitat for Humanity is fundamentally a movement and to make the first-time homebuyer program really work, it's all about the partnerships," said Szalay.
The local construction company will build and donate in its entirety the single-family home in Lancaster City’s SoWe neighborhood. The home will then be purchased by Habitat homebuyer, Kala Martin-Toney.
"We just decided...we're so blessed as a construction company that it's just the right thing to do to build a home for Habitat and it's just our way to give back," said Dale Shenk, Director of Business Development for Ebersole Builders.
"I'm still kind of in disbelief...It's been a long-time coming...the timing, I just know it's God's timing," said Martin-Toney.
The home is part of Habitat's Open Doors campaign, a 5-year, $4 million endeavor to build 30 homes for Lancaster and Lebanon families working through Habitat's first-time homebuyers program. Habitat anticipates reaching its fundraising goal by year's end, which sets the stage for completing its build goal over the next two years.
Ebersole Builders projects the construction on this build will take about six months.