HOLYOKE – The Greater Springfield Habitat for Humanity (GSHFH) hosted a double in-person dedication ceremony on July 18 to celebrate two families who will soon be purchasing newly-built homes on Jackston St.

GSHFH is a housing ministry dedicated to strengthening communities by empowering low-income families to change their lives and the lives of future generations through homeownership and home repair opportunities.

Single mother Jennifer and her three teenage boys will move into a three-bedroom GSHFH home currently finishing construction in Holyoke. Since divorcing out of an abusive marriage, Jennifer has strived for a safe and decent affordable home for her and her sons. In their current apartment, her two youngest sons share a bedroom and bed and the neighborhood they live in is considered dangerous due to several vacant buildings, homeless people, drugs and vandalization.

“I see so much better for my children, and I want to be able to provide them a forever home – a place where we feel safe, stable, happy and accomplished,” Jennifer said. “We want a place to create beautiful memories for many years to come.”

The other family moving into the Jackson St. homes is a married couple with two young children. Ireydiza and her husband Juan will soon purchase the other three-bedroom home in Holyoke four years after a workplace injury disabled Juan. The family had plans of buying a home, but the injury caused a delay in their planning.

Ireydiza left school to work and provide for the family under the circumstances. Now with the home stretch of moving into the new home in sight, the family is eager to move forward and out of their current living situation.

“We’ve been trying to leave for a while. This neighborhood has a bad reputation,” Juan said. “We want something different for our kids. We want them to be able to have something where they come home and say, ‘This is our home.”

The July 18 event took place after a year in of construction that began in summer 2021 and has involved roughly 150 volunteers from local companies and school groups. Some of these groups include the city of Holyoke’s Department of Community Development, Holyoke Housing Authority, Holyoke Community Preservation Act Committee, PeoplesBank, Anna Maria College, Pellegrini, Seeley, Ryan and Blakesley, and Citizens Bank.

“We are very grateful for the opportunity and partnerships created allowing us to provide more affordable housing in the city of Holyoke. We hope that this is the start of more to come,” said GSHFH Executive Director Aimee Giroux.

Habitat’s mission to provide homeownership opportunities to low-income families is unique as it requires partner families to work alongside the community that is reaching out to them. With their help, families can move into a better home that fits them and still be able to afford the home. The GSHFH has helped over 100 local families realize their dream of homeownership over the last 35 years.

Family Services Manager Debbie O’Mara said all kinds of families are involved in the GSHFH, from those with multiple children to one-child families. She added that they look to match families to fit the size of the home that is built for them and fits them accordingly to Housing and Urban Development guidelines.

Families are selected when construction is finished being planned and ready to get started. O’Mara said this is done as one of the GSHFH requirements is that the family participate in areas of construction through doing “sweat equity hours.” Families are selected based on need for housing due to their current location and size of home, ability to pay mortgage and willingness to participate in the sweat equity hours.

“What we usually find out of all the applications we receive, is that there are a few families that sort of rise to the top of our list based on those three criteria and all things equal. If those three families are all eligible and qualified, we take the family that has the greatest need for housing as the family we select,” said O’Mara.

The celebration took place a little earlier than typically done in the construction process, but the families were still able to check out the almost completed first floors of the homes. The GSHFH construction team has split duties between the two houses in order to complete both projects.
The homes are expected to be completed and ready for move-in in the coming weeks.

“It was a surprise and a little bit of a way for the family to see how the first floor is going to look with everything laid out the way it’s going to be in the open concept of the floor,” O’Mara added. “That was fun because there was more progress than they were expecting.”

A third house will be built by GSHFH behind one of the homes and facing Chestnut St. A family has already been selected for the home according to O’Mara and the project is expected to break ground by the end of the summer.

After being able to work toward helping more families, O’Mara and her colleagues at GSHFH experience continued satisfaction out of the relationships they form and the people they help through their work.

“It’s life changing for the families we serve and it’s also life changing for all of us who work for Habitat. We know we’re helping low-income families achieve something they would most likely not be able to achieve on their own,” O’Mara said. “We try to help provide stability and safety that many have lacked. Their kids can grow up in an environment that give them more stability. Children stay in school longer, they achieve greater incomes and life themselves. The goal is for the families we serve with homeownership, that their children don’t need a Habitat program to purchase homes for their families when that time comes.”