Operation Home Delivery

PRESS RELEASE: For Immediate Release

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF BERGEN COUNTY TO PARTICIPATE IN "OPERATION HOME DELIVERY" PROGRAM TO AID KATRINA VICTIMS

October 20, 2005: Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County (HHBC) announced today that it will be participating in the "Operation Home Delivery" program launched by Habitat for Humanity International to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.

A key component of Operation Home Delivery is the "Home in a Box" house-building initiative. Through its participation in this initiative HHBC will "pre-build" the components for one house initially with a goal of at least three houses, package them in a container and transport them to the Gulf Coast to be permanently set up when infrastructure components like water, electricity and sewage are in place. Habitat homeowner families, volunteers and builders will then complete final construction of the home in its permanent location.

In addition to providing the labor to build the homes, each affiliate must also pay the home construction costs of $75,000. Despite the challenges, the HHBC Board of Directors voted unanimously at their October 11th meeting to respond immediately to this call to action. Within days, funding for one complete house was already secured, thanks to an extraordinary Katrina campaign launched by Tracy and Peter Salerno of Wyckoff, NJ.

"We are thrilled and honored to be part of the effort to assist families in need in the Gulf area. Since the announcement of the program, our board of directors and volunteers expressed the need to do something. Now, with the generous help of the Salernos and their friends, we can commit to the construction of at least one home. We will also be reaching out to individuals and local businesses in Bergen County in the hopes of securing funding for additional homes." said Lisa M. Hartley, Executive Director of HHBC.

HHBC plans to begin construction of the first home for Operation Home Delivery within the next one to two months. Permanent setup in the affected areas should begin in early 2006. Sponsorship opportunities for additional homes are available.

ABOUT HABITAT FOR HUMANITY of Bergen County:

HHBC, an affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, is devoted to building affordable housing in Bergen County. Bergen County is an area of great affluence, with some of the highest housing costs in the nation. Yet 46,000 residents, over 15,000 of them children, live in poverty in this county.

Since 1993, 18 parents, over 30 children and one grandparent now own and live in eight homes built by volunteer labor and the sweat equity of the partner-families. We are currently in the initial phases of constructing nine new homes in Englewood, NJ. We are also partnering with Affordable Housing of Metropolitan Edgewater (AHOME) in the conversion of two apartment buildings which will provide 18 affordable condominiums.

Over 80% of all contributions to HHBC go directly to construction. Ten percent of all donations are tithed to a small village in Mexico where Habitat volunteers and local residents build a home for $3,800.

Paid for by Friends of Michael J. Wildes, Claudia Colbert, Treasurer