|
Our Mission:
Metro Camden Habitat for
Humanity partners with God, people, and organizations to build and
renovate houses for those in need of affordable, decent homes in Camden County. In addition, will foster and empower healthy communities through
educational programs in personal finance, successful homeownership, and
job training in the construction trades.
Facts about Camden City:
Based on 2007 data from
the United States Census Bureau, 35.6% of the city's residents live in
poverty, the third highest rate in the nation.
The city had a median household income of $25,961, the third lowest of
all U.S. communities with populations of more than 65,000 residents,
making it America's third poorest city.
Just one year prior, Camden ranked number one for its
poverty rate and had the lowest median income. In comparison, New Jersey has the second highest median income in the country, just behind Maryland. Nine of NJ’s counties rank in the top 100 wealthiest counties in the U.S. It is for this reason that the Board of Directors has decided to focus on
rebuilding the neighborhoods and lives of Camden City residents as a
priority within our service area of Camden County.
Abandoned row houses are
being rehabbed in blighted blocks of Camden. No longer havens for
drugs and crime, these buildings are transformed and now providing
shelter for families in need of a decent place to live. If not
for Habitat’s interest-free mortgages these families would never
be able to afford to own their own home.
With your help, we can revitalize Camden’s neighborhoods.
So far, we
have housed 44 families. Please consider offering your time, financial
support and prayers to help us bring more families dreams into reality
here in Camden City!
NEWS
ImPRESSive Contribution!
Townsend Press is an educational publisher of an acclaimed series of reading, vocabulary, and writing textbooks for the school and college markets. They also publish, through their nonprofit foundation, an affordable library of original and classic paperbacks. www.Townsendpress.com
|
Recently MCHH received a generous contribution from Townsend Press. At the end of May, employees volunteered to prime the walls at 534 Newton Avenue - sponsored by Townsend Press.
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
This spring we were approached by an energetic real estate agent with a different approach to his line of work. His concept is simple: for each house a client of his purchases or sells, he and others on the team will donate 50% of their personal commission to Metro Camden Habitat for Humanity. In today’s economy, this simple concept is extremely generous and possibly hard to live by, but on June 18, Ken Baker, founder of NJRealtors4Charity.com hand-delivered the first check of many. His goal for the NJRealtors4Charity team – raise enough to fund a house! If you are in the market to buy or sell a home, click here for more information. |
|
 |
Magnolia students make hot summer months on construction site safer!
For the second year in a row, Magnolia Public School has held a contest at the end of the school year to see which classroom can collect the most bottles of water to keep the volunteers at MCHH on the worksite hydrated this summer. While the Second grade class won the prized doughnut party, all students learned about Habitat for Humanity and how they can help people in their neighboring community. Fundraising coordinator, Mary Kopczynski, stressed that it is important that the students learn that there are many children, only a few miles away, just like them who are in need of a safe place to call home. She said that the discussions that spur from this fundraiser are a great learning experience for students to understand their responsibilities to helping the community at large.
|
|
Affordabilty of "Extreme" homes
The house in Pennsauken built by "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" has been in the news since the day the makeover team came to town to help a family in need. More recently questions have come up regarding the affordability of the property since it went up for sale for one day. MCHH comments to the Courier Post about the (post link to the article here b/c it finishes the sentence) versus the Habitat for Humanity model (posted May 7, 2008 Courier Post)
Waiting on the World to Change – 20/20
highlights Camden’s children growing up in poverty
Many people have
seen the 20/20 Diane Saywer episode about Camden kids and have felt
compelled to help however they can. We have been listed as an
organization in Camden who helps children. We do this by providing
affordable housing to families who could not afford a conventional
mortgage.
While we do not
work directly with the children who were highlighted in the episode we
do help families in need of affordable housing in Camden City.
A Habitat house
is safer, dryer, warmer and usually larger than the family’s
previous living situation. Increased privacy fosters a better
environment for homework, enabling children to excel in school.
Fewer than half
of the students in Camden schools complete the year in the same school
they started--most because their family had to move when the roof
started leaking or the rent increased. With an affordable Habitat
house, children don’t have to move from school to school.
Furthermore, once housing is affordable, many of our homeowners use the
leftover money to pay for tuition at private schools, in order to give
their children the best opportunity to receive a quality education.
How you can
help:
We are always in
need of financial contributions to be able to build the houses for the
families. We also welcome volunteers to participate on the worksite
with us as well. Please contact Amy and visit our Volunteer page for
more information on volunteering in Camden, NJ this spring/summer.
See the video on
ABC's website: Click
here to see the original story.
Update on where they are now (aired 11/10/07) Click here to see the updated story.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Check back for upcoming events.
|
