Cayuga County Habitat for Humanity makes history with first-ever new build
For the first time in its 22-year history, the Cayuga County Habitat for Humanity will present one lucky family with a brand new home built entirely from the ground up.
Since its formation in 1991, the group has worked on more than a dozen homes throughout Cayuga County and has provided renovated living spaces for several struggling families. But its most recent project, the fourteenth overall, is the first one that has been attempted completely from scratch.
The organization broke ground on the site at 29 Arch St. in the city of Auburn just before Thanksgiving and has been working throughout the past two weeks to finish laying the foundation. Though Habitat for Humanity has typically stuck with upgrade and renewal projects in the past, an opportunity was presented when one of the group’s newest members, Mike Luksa, donated a plot of land to be used for a home.
“We did a cost analysis of the contractors involved and compared it to a renovation budget and really thought we could do it at a similar cost,” said Mike Lesch, president of the board of directors.
The project’s construction is still fairly new, but the plans for the design have been in the works since about a year ago, when Habitat for Humanity first selected the family that would get to live in the home. Lesch said there is an application process that is dealt with by a family selection committee, all volunteers, that files through the eight to ten applicants who usually submit requests each time a project is started.
Any money that goes into the project is taken from donations the organization receives, and Lesch said the receiving family is then given a 0-percent-interest loan that they make payments on while living in the house.
“It’s quite an amazing deal,” he said. “There was a lot of excitement when the family found out they were chosen and they were very appreciative.”
Being the first brand new construction that the area’s organization has ever planned, the need for volunteers, materials and services is greater than ever. But even with such a small crew, Lesch said the group hopes to have the framework closed in within the next four weeks, even working through the cold and the snow to make sure progress continues.
“Our construction crew is pretty amazing,” he said. “The volunteers go to the site at least two days a week and we always have lots of help from local churches and schools.”
By the time the home is completed — hopefully sometime in June, Lesch said — the partner family will be able to call itself the lucky occupants of the first new house ever built by the Cayuga County Habitat for Humanity. The process is long and the work requires a great deal of sacrifices, but Lesch said that when the project is finally finished, the results are worth everything in the end.
“When we go through the process, the amount of excitement and appreciation for the opportunity these people are being given is great,” he said. “It’s just a very rewarding experience.”
December 14, 2013 6:30 am •
