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RECENT NEWS

We’re a proud Charitable
Partner of The Roman Jewelers Wedding
Meet Caroline Burghard and Karl Erikson and see what they
are doing for
Raritan Valley Habitat!!
Spring 2010 Newsletter
- Farewell Pam Ely - Greetings from Nancy Asbury
- Annual Meeting - Volunteer Standouts!
- Verizon & Cisco Join Forces
- Inside View: IT Committee
- Building Update
- Bonnie Brae Builders - Innovation Award
- Church Relations Committee
- Women Build: Building and Bonding
- Stories from the Heart
- NJ Devils Alumni vs. Bombers Hockey
- Mr. Habitat Wears the Crown
- Fly Me To The Moon - Spring Dinner Dance
- Haiti Relief
Raritan Valley Habitat typically publishes a newsletter
two times a
year. This publication is mailed to our volunteer list as well as
donors and the general public. The Newsletter highlights current
activity, communicates progress in our building program and provides
focus for volunteer efforts.
If you would like to be on our mailing list please send an email
with your name & address to
rvhfh@rvhabitat.org
Previous Newsletters:
Fall
2009 through Summer 2003
Pam Ely To Be Honored by
SCCOAH
On April 28th, the Somerset County Coalition on Affordable
Housing (SCCOAH) will honor retiring RVHFH Executive Director
Pam Ely for her “Outstanding Leadership and Vision in Affordable
Housing”. For the last 18 years, this annual award has
recognized individuals and organizations that have established
themselves as leaders in promoting affordable housing in
Somerset County. This is the second time Pam and her team have
been recognized by SCCOA – in 2000, Raritan Valley HFH was
honored as an organization for “Outstanding Achievement in
Affordable Housing”.
In addition to Pam, this year’s honorees include Peapack-Gladstone
Bank. Habitat homeowner Juanna James will be one of the speakers
at the Awards Breakfast.
If you are interested in
purchasing tickets for the Awards Breakfast on April 28th,
please contact Sharon Clark at SCCOAH at 908.704.9649 or
sccoah@verizon.net.
Please join us in congratulating Pam on this well-deserved
award!
Somerset
County Announces
Their "2010 Outstanding Women of the Year"
Raritan Valley Habitat for
Humanity Property Acquisition, Director Judy Ronzo will
receive some well-deserved recognition in
March when the Somerset County Commission on the Status of Women
recognizes her as one of the Outstanding Women of Somerset
County for 2010. Judy is being honored in the Social
Services category for her dedication to helping more working
families make their “American Dream” come true.
Please join us in congratulating Judy!
Executive Director Pam Ely
Announces Retirement
Dear Friends of Habitat,
Recently I made the decision to retire from the position of
Executive Director of Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity
(RVHFH) in the first quarter of 2010.
I have had the joy and privilege of serving as part of our
housing ministry for almost twenty years. My family has been
patient and supportive of me and of Habitat throughout my tenure
with the organization. Now, it’s time for me to join my husband
in retirement and carve out some more time for my family.
The RVHFH Executive Committee is leading this transition
process. Our intent is make this transition as seamless as
possible by selecting a well qualified person who shares my
passion for the mission of Habitat and who can lead and grow
with our organization for many years into the future. I plan to
stay very active until my successor is named and operational.
I am so proud of all of our achievements and for being part of
Raritan Valley Habitat. I am proud of our staff, our Board of
Trustees, our wonderful volunteers, our partner families and
homeowners, and our supporting community. You can expect our
mission, programs, commitment and enthusiasm to continue without
pause or slowdown. We are well positioned to serve the growing
need in our communities for affordable homes for hard working
families.
During this time of transition, I ask for your continued
support. I am so grateful, more than you can know, for your
contributions to the work of Habitat. Thank you.
Very sincerely,
Pam Ely
Executive Director
2009 NEWS
Bridgewater:
Dutch Lane Site Dedication and
More Homes, More Hope Campaign Launch
Over 100 Habitat friends and supporters gathered on
October 9th to raise the wall of a Habitat home and dedicate the
site for the Dutch Lane Habitat community in Bridgewater. The
Dutch Lane community is our largest project ever – nine families
(including 26 kids!) will make their homes in this new Habitat
neighborhood. Eight of the nine families were able to join in
the celebration and express their enthusiasm to Habitat
supporters and volunteers.
Link to
Video
The event also celebrated the
public launch of the More Homes, More Hope Campaign, a
fundraising effort designed to support the construction of 33
Habitat homes across Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. Governor
Thomas Kean and Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Honorary
Co-Chairs of the More Homes, More Hope Campaign, spoke at the
celebration (seen in photo); then donned hard hats and joined
Campaign Chair Judy Lewent, Congressman Leonard Lance,
Bridgewater Mayor Patricia Flannery, and some three dozen other
dignitaries and Habitat supporters in raising the wall of a
Habitat home.
To see a video of the launch event,
click here
To see photos of the event,
click here
To learn more about the Bridgewater project,
click here
To learn more about the More
Homes, More Hope Campaign,
click here
2009 Seeds of
Hope Winners
Helping Women One House at Time
Bridgewater’s
Kathy Tanaka is the driving force behind Raritan Valley Habitat
for Humanity’s highly successful Women Build program. She helps
empower women to learn construction skills and to help those in
need of a home. She has motivated, advised and inspired more
than 450 women, ensuring that every woman knows she has made a
meaningful contribution to the life of a woman in need.
New Jersey Monthly, the
state’s leading consumer magazine, reaffirms its commitment to
the spirit of volunteerism as it announces the 2009 class of its
Garden State Seeds of Hope award honorees.
The awards, which honor a variety of volunteers, recognize the
contributions of a selfless group of people committed to
volunteer efforts that benefit people in New Jersey.
A luncheon will be held at 11:30 AM on September 22nd at
Crystal Plaza in Livingston to honor all the Garden State Seeds
of Hope award recipients. The program is co-sponsored by PNC
Wealth Management, Reno’s Appliance, and Crystal Plaza. Anyone
interested in attending can call Beth Bressman, New Jersey
Monthly’s Promotions Director, for more information. All
proceeds from the luncheon will be donated to the honorees’
causes.
RVHFH Board
President Honored
at the Bonnie Brae School’s Recent Graduation
In
recognition and with tremendous gratitude, Bonnie Brae School
honors
Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity
for the opportunity they provided during the 2008-2009 school
year
for our eight students to partner with them in their service
mission.
Our thanks to Pam Ely, Executive Director,
for permitting this first time venture.
All of the Brae Builders wish to recognize
Dick Bedner, RVHFH President
for his time, leadership, patience and direction as well as all
of the
volunteers who worked side by side wit them in mentoring roles.
Your care, talents and support have helped our students to
prepare for
transition to the work world. You have touched the lives of so
many.
Thank you from everyone at Bonnie Brae!
Habitat
for Humanity Helping Franklin Woman Realize Her Dreams
by
Mary Ann Bourbeau for MyCentralJersey.com
Tuesday June 9, 2009
Charisse Roberts looked out the window of the new home she was
helping to build for herself along with volunteers for the Raritan
Valley Habitat for Humanity. "This is a dream I have always had,"
she told them. "I dreamed that I could stand at the sink washing
dishes and watch my son playing in the backyard."
Roberts, 32, works as a credit and collections specialist and
attends college at night, pursuing a bachelor's degree in
psychiatric and rehabilitation treatment. She had planned on leaving
New Jersey after she graduated college, thinking that was the only
way she could afford a house for herself and her two children,
13-year-old Imani and 4-year-old Elijah. "A friend of mine told me
about Habitat for Humanity," said the local resident. "She thought I
would be a good candidate. I applied and after months of interviews,
I was chosen. Now I get to stay in Jersey. I'm very excited and
humbled at the same time." Her new dream is to open a teen center
here, helping at-risk youth deal with social issues.
Since September, Roberts has worked side by side with Habitt, as
well as friends, family, members of her church and community
volunteers on the construction of the Clifton Street home. She will
purchase the home with a zero-interest mortgage provided by Habitat.
Roberts will be responsible for home maintenance and for monthly
payments of principal, taxes, insurance and utilities. Mortgage
payments are recycled to fund the construction of more houses. "This
has been a real blessing for me," Roberts said. "So many people gave
a lot of time and monetary donations, building a home for someone
they don't even know. They just gave from their hearts."
Roberts' home is one of three Habitat homes here to be dedicated at
the end of the month. A fourth home on Irvington Avenue will be
completed by the fall. This will bring the total number of homes
built in Somerset to 15. The 1,200-square-foot homes are modest,
three bedroom ranches. Roberts put in more than 200 "sweat equity"
hours working on the home and can't wait to finally move in. "The
best part for me is having a backyard for my son," she said. "We've
lived in an upstairs apartment for 10 years and I always have to
tell him he can't run and jump. Now he'll have his own space."
Habitat for Humanity volunteers find the site, raise the funds and
select a hard-working, low-income family for each new home. RVHFH,
along with Lowe's, has hosted several Women-Build events, where area
women help construct the homes. Former New Jersey Gov. Christine
Todd Whitman and her daughter Kate Whitman last month helped to
build railings for porches as other crews were painting, tiling,
landscaping and installing roof vents. Lowe's employees joined in
and the company provided a $5,000 gift card to help pay for
materials.
Roberts' home at 4 Clifton St. will be dedicated at 10 a.m. on June
27. The homes at 2 and 6 Clifton St. will be dedicated at 6:30 on
June 25. For more information, visit www.rvhabitat.org.

Bachelorette party with a theme:
"Women Build"
Franklin home
by Veronica Slaght for
The Star-Ledger
Monday June 08, 2009, 4:51 PM
From left: Bride-to-be Lisa
VanDerMeiren, Maid of Honor Tina VanDerMeiren, Karen Izaguirre,
Shannon Pak, Kate Mowll, Hannah VanDerMeiren and Kathy Ma pose in
front of the house they helped build in the Somerset section of
Franklin Township.
When most women imagine their bachelorette party, they
don't envision themselves hammering nails, mixing cement and getting
dirty. But that's exactly what bride-to-be Lisa VanDerMeiren did
with her girlfriends and female relatives in Franklin Township,
Somerset County, this spring.
Hard labor for charity might seem to most like an unusual concept
for bachelorette party, but not for the 27-year-old Mount Holly
resident. VanDerMeiren has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity
since her days at Rancocas Valley High School, and for the past few
years, she's even served on the Burlington County chapter's family
selection committee, which chooses recipients for the homes.
The woman who will be living in the home -- a single mother with a
daughter and a son -- was "building alongside of us," said
VanDerMeiren. "She was showing us each room in the house, taking us
on a tour." The frame had just gone up, so Lisa and her "party
guests" were installing the outside portion of the house.
When asked if she'd recommend a Habitat for Humanity "build day" to
other brides-to-be, VanDerMeiren said "absolutely." She added, "I
was a little afraid that not everybody wanted to do a fundraiser or
commit a whole day to building a house," but they all did.
VanDerMeiren's special bachelorette celebration caught the attention
of NJ Bride magazine, which will be featuring a story on the build
day in their summer issue, coming out this month. She thinks that's
pretty cool. "I think it's so important to realize that there are
other people who have needs," she said. "People don't realize that
low-income people aren't lazy, they just can't afford to live in
Somerset County, Hunterdon County." Being able to own a home
and raise a family in a nice neighborhood are opportunities everyone
should have, said VanDerMeiren. "I think it's important for people
to realize that and volunteer to help."
The particular program the bachelorette and her friends took part in
is called Women Build. According to Lisa Fielding at Raritan
Valley Habitat for Humanity, the program is underwritten by Lowe's
and "strives to build simple, decent, affordable houses for local
families in need." The homes are both funded and built by women.
In addition to the sweat contributed by VanDerMeiren and her friends
and family, they also raised $5,317 for the Women Build house in
Franklin. The home in the Somerset section of the township -- is the
first Women Build project in the Raritan Valley, said Fielding.
The Raritan Valley chapter of Habitat for Humanity started
fundraising for the home at the end of 2007, and now is just a few
thousand dollars away from their $100,000 goal. More volunteers and
additional funding are still needed to complete the house, but it's
almost done, Fielding said. To sign up for the June 13 Women Build
in Somerset, go online to www.rvhabitat.org.
VanDerMeiren said the Women Build program is a chance for women to
get in there, "get their hands dirty and not be intimidated."
Her friends certainly weren't. One travelled from North Carolina on
a Friday, spent the April weekend working on the house, and then
drove back on Sunday.
Something VanDerMeiren said she's learned about Habitat is that the
nonprofit doesn't just give out houses. "They don't give hand
outs," she said, "they give hands up." She added, "They want to
enable people to contribute to the community rather than spending so
much of their income on a rented apartment." Fielding
described Habitat as a "partnership program" where "RVHFH sells the
finished home at cost and provides a no-interest mortgage to the new
homeowner."
Maybe a day of carpentry isn't the traditional way for a bride-to-be
to spend one of her last days of "freedom," but VanDerMeiren said,
"We all had a great time." VanDerMeiren is a chemist and her
fiancé, Robert Craig, who lives in Lumberton, is a teacher at Perth
Amboy High School. The two first met at Rancocas Valley High
School. But they were in different crowds, and Craig is two years
older than his fiancé. Five years ago, they met again, this time at
a bar in New Brunswick, where both attended Rutgers University. They
hit it off when they learned they both like to play tennis. A
few games of tennis later, the couple is planning to wed on
Saturday.
What comes after the wedding? A post-wedding build, of course.

Rutgers Master
Gardeners of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties landscape RV Habitat
for Humanity homes
by Patti Sapone for
The Star-Ledger
Saturday May 30, 2009 at 4:31 PM
One of the Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity homes landscaped by
Rutgers Master Gardeners of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties in
Franklin Twp.
This photo is part of the
Rutgers Master Gardeners of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties
landscape Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity homes gallery
Former
Gov. Christine Todd Whitman and daughter Kate help build Habitat
home in Franklin
by
Somerset Reporter
Friday May 15, 2009, 10:00 AM
COURTESY RARITAN VALLEY HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Kate Whitman
and former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman using their power
tool skills to complete a back deck at the Raritan Valley
Habitat for Humanity build project in Franklin.
FRANKLIN -- On May 9, former Gov.
Christine Todd Whitman and her daughter Kate Whitman joined
35 other local women to help build Raritan Valley Habitat
for Humanity homes as part of Lowe's National Women Build
week.
In the days leading up to Mother's Day,
175 construction crews of women volunteers joined forces to
hammer nails, hang sheet rock, raise walls and more at
Habitat construction sites across the country.
At Raritan Valley Habitat for
Humanity's Women Build day, local women volunteers worked on
four new homes that are currently under construction.
The Whitman's helped another mother-daughter team build
railings for porches as other crews were painting, tiling,
landscaping and installing roof vents. Since its
inception in September 2007, the Raritan Valley Habitat
Women Build Program has raised over $92,000 of the $100,000
needed to fund the Women Build house. A majority of this
money has been raised by 300 plus volunteers who have
devoted their time building for the day and raising pledges.
The goal is to complete the fund-raising effort by the home
dedication on June 27 and support is needed to close the
gap.
Charisse Roberts, the head of the Women
Build Habitat partner family, was on-site building alongside
the volunteers as well.
Roberts looked out the window of her new home into her
soon-to-be backyard and told volunteers, "This is a dream I
have always had. I dreamed that I could stand at the sink
washing dishes and watch my son playing in the back yard."
As part of their partnership with Habitat, Roberts, along
with the other partner families must put in "sweat equity"
hours to help construct their new homes. Once a home is
finished, the partner family purchases the home through a
no-interest mortgage from Habitat. The funds from the sale
of the home are then used to help construct additional
affordable housing for other partner families.
Developed through a partnership between
Lowe's and Habitat for Humanity International, National
Women Build Week challenged women to devote their energies
for one day to aid in the effort to eliminate poverty
housing. The event, an initiative of Habitat for Humanity's
Women Build program was underwritten by Lowe's and designed
to bring women from all walks of life together to learn
valuable construction skills and then use those skills to
help construct simple, decent, affordable houses.
Local Lowe's stores offered in-store clinics to provide
building skill instruction to any interested women and
Lowe's employees also joined the Raritan Valley Habitat
Women Build construction event. Lowe's provided $5,000 gift
card to help pay for materials for the Raritan Valley
Habitat Women Build house.
To find out more about Raritan Valley
Habitat for Humanity or to join the next Women Build day on
June 13, visit
rvhabitat.org. The dedication ceremony for the Women
Build home, located at 4 Clifton St., will be held 10 a.m.
Saturday, June 27. The home dedication ceremony for
two additional homes on Clifton Street, Somerset, is
currently scheduled 6:30 p.m. Thursday, June 25.
PAST NEWS
Another 4 Homes Get
Energy Star Approval
2008 Raffle Winner -
Anne LaPlante
2007 Annual
Planning & Land Development Awards
NHHS
Technology Service Club Donates Computers
Coldwell Banker Sponsors Bernardsville House
Cub Scouts Recreate Famous Painting in Tile
Temperatures Soar at Bernardsville Site
Dedication: July 29th - 2006
Ortho-McNeil
Pharmaceutical, Inc. Our Newest Lambertville House Partner! - 2006
New Jersey Builders Association Sponsors a
Lambertville Home - 2005
United Way Supports RVHFH's First WOMEN BUILD
- 2005

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