Habitat house was built by the students of the Cecil County School of Technology
On October 19, Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna held a dedication ceremony in Elkton for the Habitat home built by the students of the Cecil County School of Technology (CCST). The future homeowner of this “Habi-Tech” house is Felicia Hanna, a single mother of three.
Dedication ceremonies celebrate the completion of the homeownership process with the Habitat homebuyer, volunteers, donors, sponsors, Board members, Habitat staff and community members. They offer the public an opportunity to tour the home, and are held before Habitat homebuyers to go settlement.
During the ceremony, Habitat Susquehanna Executive Director Yvonne Golczewski recognized the following house sponsors: Battelle; Digging & Rigging, Inc.; Fulton Forward Foundation; Hollywood Casino; Maryland Affordable Housing Trust; Maryland Agricultural Education and Rural Development Assistance Fund (MAERDAF); Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development – Community Legacy; ODEC; APGFCU; Decisive Data Systems; Enspire Energy; Erie Insurance; Faith Build 2023 churches; Gutter Guys; Carl and Lynn Lee; Modular Genius; The Nora Roberts Foundation; and, the United Way of Cecil County.
Rev. Ricardo Burns of Wright’s A.M.E. church gave the opening prayer and house blessing.
David Burja, Habitat Susquehanna’s Director of Construction, thanked the CCST students, the Habitat volunteers and the AmeriCorps members who all worked on this home. Burja also gave special thanks to Devon and Julie Price, the Cecil County couple who had donated their 79-foot Norway Spruce as the 2021 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The tree’s milled lumber was donated by Tishman Speyer (the owner and operator of Rockefeller Center) the following year to Habitat Susquehanna so that it could be incorporated into Habitat homes. The milled 2×6 planks of lumber were used in window sills, trim and blocking at this “Habi-Tech” home, as well as at another Habitat home in Havre de Grace.
Felicia also gave remarks at the ceremony.
“Thank you to Habitat Susquehanna for giving me this opportunity,” she said. “Thank you to the volunteers, especially the ‘core’ volunteers, and anyone who has donated – this wouldn’t be possible without you. My children and I are excited to start this next chapter of our life, and we thank you for helping to celebrate with us.”
The ceremony ended with the presentation of the house key by Ben Marsh, Site Construction Supervisor, and the traditional ribbon-cutting at the front door.
As with all Habitat homebuyers, Felicia was required to contribute 250 “sweat equity” hours building her home or the home of another; take mandatory financial literacy classes to learn good money management skills; and, take home maintenance classes. Felicia will be purchasing her home through a Habitat mortgage made affordable specifically for her.
It is the fourth time that Habitat Susquehanna has purchased a “Habi-Tech” home built by the CCST. (The first home was in 2011 on Cherry Lane in Elkton. The second home was in 2019 on Richmond Street in Perryville. The third home was in 2021 on Walnut Street in Rising Sun.)
About Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna, Inc.
Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna, Inc. is an ecumenical Christian housing organization devoted to building, renovating and repairing houses in partnership with the community in Cecil and Harford counties. Since its inception in 1993, Habitat Susquehanna has served over 700 families through its Homeownership, Repair and Financial Literacy programs. For more information, call 410-638-4434 (Harford County) or 410-398-3399 (Cecil County), or visit www.habitatsusq.org.
