On Saturday our Habitat volunteers worked on a restoration project in downtown Allentown! We worked alongside the home’s future owner and two other future home buyers. The heat index was high, but spirits were higher - and fortunately the air conditioning was installed and made operational 2 days before we started painting. We put a 2nd coat of paint on every room inside the house and on the molding, exceeding the expectations of the project site manager.
The new owner and her family are scheduled to be in their new home in November, in time for the holidays. The city subsidized one third of the total rehab cost for this project with the goal of reclaiming an abandoned building and putting another house on the tax rolls. The painting crew volunteers are pictured below in front of the rehab house (L to R: Rotary President Don Wieand, Lou Bottitta, Tom Christman, Michael Luciano, Lisa Luciano, Connor Corpora, unnamed Habitat owner/volunteer, Mike Orbin, unnamed Habitat owner/volunteer).
Here is the thank you email we received from Habitat and click "Read More" for additional photos.
=============
Hi volunteers!
I wanted to extend another big THANK YOU on behalf of the HFHLV team for an amazing day of hard work on the job site last Saturday! I am disappointed I missed your group on the job site but Ray and Joe tell me they absolutely loved having your group out and really appreciate all of the work you accomplished on N. 8th Street.
I hope you enjoyed this opportunity for your fellow club members to take a day out of a typical weekend and
work together as a team. Our goal is for you to bond and have fun, all while providing the volunteer resources needed to build homes for families in need; and we hope you achieved that with us! Keep a lookout for your pictures on our social media pages, feel free to tag yourselves and share the post.
We look forward to working with your group again soon. Wishing you a wonderful rest of your day!
With gratitude, Camille Urbano
Camille M. Urbano
Corporate Development Manager
Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley
245 N. Graham Street
Allentown, PA 18109
245 N. Graham Street
Allentown, PA 18109
Rotary President Don Wieand and Rotarian/crew coordinator Lisa Luciano with two Habitat owner volunteers - this is the "molding shot"... An owner must invest 250 hours of "sweat equity" in habitat projects before taking possession of a house. The skills they learn on these work days help teach them the basic skills needed to maintain the house after they move in.
Your editor, Lou Bottitta, putting a 2nd coat of paint on the upstairs laundry room. That's a lot harder/hotter than putting together an issue of the SMILE!
Marci Schick and Tom Christman were our molding painters. They worked in the downstairs living and dining rooms.
Lisa and her son Michael getting ready to roll on the paint.
