Remarks by David Ferguson, President of HfHYC Board of Directors at Nadeau Family Home Dedication
November 12, 2005

Thank you all for coming this afternoon to celebrate with the Nadeau Family the completion of their home. This home was completed only by the extraordinary efforts of the partner family, volunteers, donors and the dedication and support of the Board of Directors.

Some people think Habitat gives homes away. That is simply not true. Just ask Tammy or her family how many hours they have dedicated to working on this home. Every weekend and lots of evenings, Tammy and her family were here working toward the completion of this home. In addition, Tammy will have to repay a mortgage to Habitat. That mortgage will have no interest. The principal amount is based on the actual cost to construct this home, our project manager fees (used to pay the project manager – our only paid staff person) and a set value for the land.

For those who are concerned that Habitat homes have become unaffordable for our partner families, I can assure you that this home is being sold to Tammy for less then one-half of its appraised value, and that Tammy’s total monthly payment , Principal, Taxes, Lake Arrowhead Fee, and Insurance will be less then the amount she currently pays in rent. Habitat Works! But only with the dedication of our volunteers.

This home is the first HfHYC home completed in the last 18 months. That is an unacceptable level of activity.

Habitat has a second build going on right now in Biddeford. We hope to complete that home by the first of the year. Then, thanks to the tireless efforts of our Board of Directors, we have a plan in place to complete two, possibly three more homes next year. First we will conduct a blitz build in partnership with local contractors to complete a home in one week, the week of June 5th. The blitz home will be in Shapleigh. Also in Shapleigh we will have a second more conventional build. Our third build in 2006 will occur in Parsonsfield. In 2007 we hope to complete a three lot subdivision also in Parsonsfield. As you can see, HfHYC has a plan in place to do more in York County to meet our Mission.

In addition, to further increase our capacity, HfHYC is changing. In an effort to increase the number of families we assist, the Board of Directors is implementing a stronger, more streamlined committee structure to better our outreach and inclusion of volunteers. This should lead to volunteer opportunities not just on the builds but with outreach, planning and fundraising.

Those of you here today who have not been involved with Habitat, please consider joining our efforts. Those of you who have volunteered on this home or another, we thank you and we would hope you would rededicate yourself to Habitat’s mission of providing good, safe housing in partnership with deserving families to eliminate poverty housing one family at a time.

Thank you for sharing this joyous occasion with us.