On Friday, February 13th, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh lived up to its name with the groundbreaking ceremony for the organization’s first house in the Town of Newburgh at 27 Gail Place. The house will be a pair of firsts for Habitat Newburgh. Not only will it be the first build in the town as opposed to the city, it will also be the organization’s first house built with modular construction techniques.

 

The house will be named the Bill and Mary Murphy Founders House, after two of the founders of Habitat Newburgh. The two attended the groundbreaking ceremony, and Bill said, “I think it’s great because after 27 years we finally are building outside the City of Newburgh, so we’re expanding our reach, which is what we need and what the people need.”

 

Neighbors and Habitat volunteers gathered in front of the future site of the house, covered in woodchips and stumps from recently removed trees. Members of state and local government, as well as employees of Habitat spoke about the project, before taking up shovels to break ground, or woodchips, for the first time.

 

New York State Assemblymember Jonathan Jacobson praised the project, and said, “Housing is magical, when someone owns a house it brings stability to the neighborhood, to the municipality, and it brings stability to the family that moves in because they know they always have a home to come back to.”

 

Town of Newburgh Councilwoman Mary McLymore said, “I am so happy and grateful that it’s now coming into the town, it’s not just for the City of Newburgh.”

 

Paul Brothe, the former Board President of Habitat Newburgh said the organization waited to expand to the Town of Newburgh because “There was some question of, would we have the support if we ventured outside of the city limits, and ultimately we decided there would be support.” The organization’s work in the City was also slowing down enough to facilitate it. Bill Murphy said, “Now things in the City have picked up, a lot of people are coming in and buying wrecks that we used to do.”

 

Modular building involves sections of a house being prefabricated in a facility, and then delivered and assembled on site. Jessica Miuccio, the executive director of Habitat Newburgh said the organization was trying the modular building technique because “It’s a housing crisis across the nation, but particularly here in the Hudson Valley…With modular it is not only a higher quality of construction but it is a shorter timeframe. While they’re building the house in a facility, we’re able to perform all of our predevelopment and infrastructure which cuts the timeline from a year to about six months.”

 

Despite faster construction, Miucco still emphasized the role of Habitat’s volunteers, saying, “This house will come to us 80% completed, and will be turned from house to home by our wonderful construction volunteers.”

 

Though it may be some time until we see them, 27 Gail Place is sure to be the first of many builds from Habitat for Humanity in the Town of Newburgh.