Home Dedication

We will be dedicating our 71st house, The Generosity House, this Saturday, December 11th at 11 am. Please join us at 216 12th Avenue to help us celebrate the dedication of our most recently completed home. A reception will follow the dedication at a to be announced location.

Katina, the family partner moving into this house, met Habitat's requirement of at least 400 hours of sweat equity on her new house. Like all our other family partners, she will be paying back an interest-free mortgage for the cost of "sticks and bricks" for her house. Katina and her family are leaving substandard housing to move into their very own, new home.

Congratulations, Katina! We wish you and your family all the best in your new home!

Ground Breaking

November 23rd will be a big day in the history of Habitat for Humanity Newark. We will break ground on the first home Habitat Newark will build outside of the City of Newark. The event will take place at 10 am at 112 Whittlesey Ave. in West Orange.

The Place My Heart Calls Home- Benefit Concert

Join us on Saturday Dec. 18th for a benefit concert supporting Habitat Newark!

The concert will be featuring Mel White & the Rainbow Peace Chorus with soloist Denise Direnzo.

The concert will be on Sat, Dec. 18th at 7 pm:
South Orange-Vailsburg United Methodist Church
150 South Orange Ave (at Prospect Street)
South Orange, NJ 07079

To reserve tickets, please call 973-763-0655.
Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Children under 12 are free! All donations are gladly accepted and will benefit Habitat Newark.

Hope to see you there!

Youth Involvement With HFHN

Many children set up lemonade stands in their neighborhoods, but few are able to impact the lives of others at such a young age. Nutley resident Jordan Woods, 11, and Rachel Friedlander, 12, of Montclair, each took it upon themselves to hold lemonade stands in order to raise money for Habitat for Humanity Newark.

“People who don’t have homes should be able to have them and live a normal life like everyone else,” Woods said.

Woods aspires to attend Harvard University or the University of Maryland to become a doctor. When he’s not volunteering, he also enjoys playing video games, drawing, swimming and reading.

"Everyone in the world should have a home- a place to come to at the end of the day and relax,” said Friedlander, a Montclair resident. “That's why I wanted to help people get a home."

Friedlander has been raising money from third through sixth grade and was able to raise more than $160 for Habitat Newark. She did so by selling cookies, bookmarks, and decorated plates made by her and her friends at her school. She also organized lemonade stands and did face paintings for younger children.

"When I was in third grade, I did a book report about Jimmy Carter and learned that he worked with Habitat for Humanity,” Friedlander said. “My mom volunteered with Habitat Newark and she drove me by one of the houses.”

Friedlander said there she met Executive Director David Zurheide, who taught her about building houses for families that don’t have them. “He told me that it costs about $90,000 to build a home in Newark and that became my goal,” she said. “I didn't reach that goal, but it was fun trying."

Friedlander hopes to attend college at Northwestern or Stanford University. She eventually wants to become a talk show host and help benefit more non-profit organizations. Friedlander has other big plans for the future, including her Bat Mitzvah project in which she hopes to
raise $25,000 for the Diabetes Foundation, Inc.

“This organization helps get important Diabetes medicine to people who can't afford it,” she said. “After that I would like to spend the rest of my time working to raise more money for Habitat Newark. I look forward to when I'm 16 - then I can actually help build the house."

Thank you, guys! For more information about getting your children involved with Habitat Newark, please give us a call at 973-624-3330.

Gala Information

Habitat Newark's annual gala will be occurring Thursday, October 28th. For more information and to get tickets, please go to: http://www.habitatnewark.org/gala/index.htm

Save the Date! Thurs., Oct. 28th

Habitat Newark is holding its annual gala on Thursday, October 28th.
It will be from 7pm-10pm at the Upper Montclair Country Club (177 Hepburn Road, Clifton, NJ 07102).
For more information and to RSVP, stay tuned to the blog or call 973-624-3330, ext. 308.
Hope to see you there!

FedEx Ground Partners with Habitat Newark

FedEx Ground recently teamed up with Habitat Newark to work on the Women Build III House.

About 18 employees volunteered to attend the FedEx Build Day. The company also donated $10,000 to Habitat Newark.

"We're extremely grateful to the FedEx Ground volunteers for putting in a hard day's work on the Women Build III House," said Lynne Blaesser, co-chairperson of the Women Build program "and I'd like to thank FedEx Ground for the donation, which will help Habitat Newark in our mission to provide affordable homes for families in Essex County."

Erin Truxal, a FedEx spokesperson said that "FedEx strives to make a positive difference in the communities we serve. Our team members support causes in their hometowns every day."