Thirty Families Apply for Latest Habitat Home

Amy Nucci, executive director, John Roberts, James Connally, development officer in front of Habitat for Humanity’s latest new home at 7 Normand Ave. Photo: Lee Burnett

By Lee Burnett, Submissions editor

Thirty families lined up to buy the latest home built by Habitat for Humanity in Sanford, an indicator of the lack of affordable housing in the region. The lucky winners are a single mother and her two children, who had been living in an apartment that was overcrowded and unaffordable, said Amy Nucci, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity York County.

“She was very happy, but also overwhelmed,” Nucci said in an interview at the spiffy new house on Normand Avenue. Feeling overwhelmed is understandable, she said. Not only did the woman have to beat out others in a need-based and credit-worthiness point system, but she had to secure a mortgage, contribute 200 hours of labor and participate in pre-purchase counseling, Nucci said.

The woman and her children will move in early 2024 and will pay just 29 percent of her income toward the mortgage.

The Normand Avenue home is the latest milestone for Habitat for Humanity, the sweat-equity, affordable home building organization. It is the fourth home completed in Sanford, with six more in development. The total of ten far surpasses all other communities in York County, Nucci said.

“We’ve been very active in Sanford,” she said. The availability of land is the biggest factor in Habitat’s activity in Sanford, she said.

This home represented close to 2,000 hours of volunteer labor contributed by 20 individuals, said John Roberts, the supervising contractor on the project. The home is built with extra insulation, extra-wide hallways and an extra spacious bathroom, he said. Heat is provided by electric heat pumps.

The work isn’t done. Even with a $100,000 federal Community Development Block Grant to supplement a USDA mortgage, Habitat still has a $70,000 gap to fill. An anonymous donor has contributed $10,000. If that can be matched with additional donations, the donor will contribute another $10,000, said James Connally, development officer. To contribute, visit www.habitatyorkcounty.org.