Habitat for Humanity Breaks Ground
on Six-House Capen Street Development

Left to Right: Mike Mahoney and Susan Mahoney of The Stanley Works' Thomas Mahoney Memorial House; John Motley, President, Travelers Foundation; John Hartgering, Board of Directors President, Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity; Barbara Stokel, Vice President Northeast Operations, GMAC; Chandler Howard, President, Fleet Bank; the Honorable Eddie Perez, Mayor, City of Hartford; John Trani, CEO, The Stanley Works; John Mandyck, Vice President of Government and International Relations, Carrier Corporation; Helen Nixon, President, Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Zone Association; Mike Stockman, Executive Director, Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity.

Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity staff, volunteers and families recently joined Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez to break ground on 6 new single family homes and celebrate the start of Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity's largest affordable housing development to date. One of the homes will be Hartford Habitat's 100th house!

The development of the property, located at 273-299 Capen Street in Hartford's Northeast neighborhood, will have a major impact on neighborhood revitalization efforts. Built on the site of an abandoned building and vacant lots, the new homes will feature creative landscaping and improved streetscapes, using designs developed in cooperation with the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Zone Association.

"The six-house Capen Street project will make an incredible difference in Hartford's North End," commented Mike Stockman, Executive Director of Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity. "We hope in the future that the results of our efforts on Capen Street will radiate outwards to promote the continued revitalization of the area. The new Habitat families selected for Capen Street will help build not only their own homes, but also a neighborhood and a community in which they can all take pride."

Habitat targets families who earn roughly 50% or less than Hartford's median income. The families are unable to qualify for conventional bank financing, currently live in inadequate housing and are committed to partnering with Hartford Habitat to achieve their goals. The families selected for the Capen Street homes are all single mothers who are seeking a better life for themselves and their children. The women include Treasuri Brown, Adrienne Dash, Yesenia Davila, Joanna Mendoza, Keosha Owens and Nicole Perry. All six women are determined and committed to achieving the American Dream. Despite having full-time jobs and working on their homes as part of the Habitat sweat equity commitment, some are also attending school to advance their careers.

Helen Nixon, President of the Northeast Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, welcomed the hard-working women and their families to the neighborhood and invited them to become part of the NRZ Association and work with current residents to create a safer and more stable community for the benefit of all.

All six Capen Street Habitat homes are fully sponsored by community minded area corporations including Carrier Corporation; GMAC Financial Services; The Stanley Works; Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton; Travelers Foundation; Savings Bank of Manchester; CIGNA, and Fleet Bank. The project is also supported by The Ensworth Foundation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's SHOP Program and the City of Hartford's Appraisal Gap Program funded through HUD's Community Development Block Grant Program.

For more information about Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity, call (860) 541-2208, ext. 255 or visit the http://www.hartfordhabitat.org website.

Content Archived: March 21, 2011