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Habitat For Humanity To Build 16 Homes

Jenna Carlesso

February 08, 2011

The Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity will begin work in April on 16 single-family units on South Marshall Street.

A groundbreaking for the project, which is expected to take 18 to 24 months to complete, is scheduled for April 1.

The project will cost about $1.6 million, and will be covered by a combination of city funds, corporate donations, grants and volunteers, Habitat officials said. Several area businesses, including The Hartford, Travelers and Aetna, have already pledged to donate money and volunteer for the project.

More than 10,000 volunteers from civic groups, faith organizations, businesses and educational institutions will help build the homes, officials said.

The units, which have three bedrooms and are similar to townhomes, will occupy a stretch of South Marshall Street between Hawthorn Street and Farmington Avenue. Families have already been selected to live in the units, said Ana Valentin-Jackson, development officer for the Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity.

To qualify, families must have an annual household income of no less than $25,000 but no more than $43,000, she said. Each adult must complete 150 hours of "sweat equity" in helping build the home and more than 50 hours of classes in the areas of financial literacy, landscaping, home repairs and move-in preparations.

Classes are taught by Habitat members and by workers at the nonprofit Co-Opportunity Inc. on Sargeant Street.

"I look forward to the day when I can hand the key to these new homeowners and see the excitement on their faces as they walk through their door for the very first time," Mayor Pedro Segarra said. "Families will be able to establish their roots and make vital contributions to our city."

This is the second large-scale project that Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity has undertaken in recent years.

In 2008, the organization completed work on a 31-house project in the city's North End. The houses, built in a 1-mile radius on Garden and Risley streets, are a combination of duplexes and single-family homes.