Cadwell St Pelham Statement Jan 2024

To Pelham residents and town officials:

    In July, 2023, with financial assistance from the Town of Pelham, Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity bought two lots on Cadwell Street in Pelham, on which Habitat plans to construct two affordable owner-occupied houses. 

    In December, 2023, Habitat received a letter from an attorney representing a neighboring owner who claims he “has maintained a 25 foot wide strip of land on Lot 3 that runs adjacent to his driveway that we believe would give him a legal right to that area.” 

    We cannot in good conscience simply surrender one fourth of a building lot for which Habitat paid $50,000.00. Habitat’s attorney Michael Pill of Green Miles Lipton in Northampton advises us that such a letter carries an implied threat of litigation if we do not give in to the lawyer’s demand. 

    Michael has initiated litigation in the Land Court in Boston, to avoid the possibility that the neighbor’s lawyer might sue Habitat in the Superior Court in Northampton. Unlike the Superior Court, the Land Court has a full time mediator and actively encourages settlement of cases. The Land Court judges have experience and specialized expertise in this type of land issue, unlike the Superior Court which must handle all types of civil and criminal cases. 

    While Habitat, like any party to litigation, cannot discuss the case, any Pelham resident or town official is welcome to call Attorney Michael Pill at his home office (413) 259-1221. Michael will field all such calls pro bono, in support of Habitat.

DEI Update: October 2021

Hello friends –

It was wonderful to come together in person and online for the October 18th screening of Briars in the Cotton Patch followed by group discussion. It is a powerful film and made more so by watching together. Thank you to everyone who was able to make time that evening to gather.

If you want to watch the film again or share with others you can stream for free at https://watch.redeemtv.com/briars-in-the-cotton-patch/videos/briars-in-the-cotton-patch and learn more at https://www.briarsdocumentary.com/ . (Habitat has Christian roots, but welcomes everyone of any faith or no faith to get involved.)

Another quick video (17 minutes) I’d invite you to watch is “Segregated by Design” to understand the impact of policies and law on housing segregation in America.

And if you are interested in getting involved with Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee or want to build some houses please email volunteer@pvhabitat.org. The DEI committee is encouraging members of the Habitat community to read the book So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo – a great introduction to a wide range of topics related to race and racism.

Until we talk again,

Megan

DEI Update: July 2021

June 2021: The Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee is reading the book So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo and is inviting the Habitat community to join us in reading the book this summer.  This will give Habitat volunteers and staff a common language to talk about systemic racism and what we can do to counteract it in our work.

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Olou

“Oluo gives us — both white people and people of color — that language to engage in clear, constructive, and confident dialogue with each other about how to deal with racial prejudices and biases.”

National Book Review

“Generous and empathetic, yet usefully blunt . . . it’s for anyone who wants to be smarter and more empathetic about matters of race and engage in more productive anti-racist action.”

Salon (Required Reading)

DEI Update: January 2021

From the January 6, 2021 letter from Habitat International CEO Jonathan Reckford, addressing the Capitol riots:

“Habitat for Humanity builds community around the world. We bring people together, crossing lines of race, class, nationality and religion. We share Dr. King’s vision of building a Beloved Community – a place that that doesn’t eliminate our differences, but celebrates them, allows for tension undergirded by love and leads to transformation.”

Read the full letter here

For more updates on Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity’s DEI work, see www.pvhabitat.org/dei.

Letters from the PVHH Executive Director: June 2020

June 2, 2020

Dear Habitat Community,

In light of recent events, I am moved today to address the issues of inequity and injustice that are making headlines even as we grapple with a global pandemic. Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity stands unequivocally against police violence and vigilantism, including the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor (and countless more).

We are all called upon to seek justice and care for one another in these unsettled times.  People of color have been systematically denied access to the strength, stability and self-reliance of homeownership in America and it is time for that to change.  Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is part of a long tradition of caring for our neighbors but there is still more work to do.

Let us bring our best selves forward as we do the hard work of building a new world based on care, compassion and respect.  Let us reach out to our neighbors and affirm their right to safety and security.  Let us be humble in this work and listen to others.

As we face the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are offered an unexpected opportunity for creating change.  As Arundhati Roy recently said, “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next” (source).

You may be wondering if swinging a hammer is one of the things you can do to help build the new world you want to see.  During the current phase of re-opening, Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity has adopted outdoor work safety guidelines for a small group of regular weekly volunteers to begin construction again.  However, for their safety and yours, we are not opening up volunteer opportunities to the general community at this time.  Our office will remain closed to the public for at least phase 1 and 2 of the Massachusetts re-opening plan. Our construction update:

  • Inside the home on lot #2 Glendale Rd contractors are busy with finish work tasks to get the homeowners in this summer.
  • Walls will be raised in June on lot #1 Glendale by regular volunteers – stay tuned for an online celebration and video of this important step.
  • A shed for storage is being built in Shutesbury by regular volunteers to prepare for a future wall raising on the main house.

Please be in touch with your ideas and your support.

Megan McDonough, Executive Director

“For centuries, structural racism in the U.S. housing system has contributed to stark and persistent racial disparities in wealth and financial well-being, especially between Black and white households. In fact, these differences are so entrenched that if current trends continue, it could take more than 200 years for the average Black family to accumulate the same amount of wealth as its white counterparts.2

While homeownership and affordable housing are not a panacea for eliminating entrenched racial inequality, lawmakers must make amends for past and present harms by enacting new laws designed to expand access to prosperity for all Americans.”

Solomon, Maxwell, & Castro. 2019. “Systemic Inequality: Displacement, Exclusion, and Segregation: How America’s Housing System Undermines Wealth Building in Communities of Color.” Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/

FEAST 2019

Feast 2020 is May 6, 6:30-9pm, at rK MILES

FEAST 2019

Tuesday May 7, 2019 @ rk MILES, Hatfield, MA

ONLINE TICKET SALES HAVE ENDED.  GET YOUR TICKET AT THE DOOR.

Join Pioneer Valley Habitat and our co-hosts rk Miles for the annual FEAST for Habitat, a fun after-work party to be held this year at rk Miles from 6:30pm – 9:00pm on Tuesday May 7th. This year will be a special celebration of our 30th anniversary as a Habitat affiliate!

For the $45 ticket price, party goers will feast on delicious food, enjoy a beverage, meet new people, hear some jazz provided by local musicians, and find some hidden gems at the auction table.  Come join us to celebrate 30 years of good work being done by so many including our volunteers, building and housing community, and building supply donors.

Limited tickets will be available at the door.  Online ticket purchases available until May 5th or mail your check for $45 per person payable to “Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity” to PO Box 60642 Florence, MA 01062.

Interested in being a 2019 FEAST Sponsor? Click here to learn more.

Deadline for full sponsorship benefits is Friday, March 8th.

Thanks to the following 2019 Feast sponsors: 

Please consider supporting these establishments whose generosity made the FEAST possible!

Food and Beverage by:

Big Enough: Research phase, 2017-2018

Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity spent over a year in 2017-2018 to develop the “Big Enough” concept, an investigation into small, simple, durable and energy efficient homes as a way to launch more families into the middle class in western Mass. The goal was to explore whether we might develop and pilot construction of a prototype small home with a $50,000 construction cost as an affordable homeownership option for low-income individuals and families. We worked with various partners to explore the financial, regulatory, construction, and social/cultural opportunities and constraints. We researched manufactured, modular and small footprint dwelling options. We seek a model that works for Habitat’s end-user –earners at 60% of the area median income — as well as one that meets the needs of homebuyers with means to pay more, allowing for broader access than is currently available for smaller, greener homes.

Brainstorming Sessions We completed 3 “power hour” rapid brainstorming sessions with experts from the financial, regulatory and construction fields to make sure our research was hitting key opportunities, constraints and intersections.  We also had a “world-cafe” style open forum on small homes where we solicited input from potential home buyers and others interested in small homes as a solution to increasing access to homeownership.

Surveys and Interviews As part of our inquiry into the social and cultural aspects of the pilot, we sought to gather data and responses directly from those residents of the region who might be interested in looking toward smaller homes as an affordable homeownership option. We conducted in-person interviews as well as online surveys which sought to more closely define the demographics, aesthetic preferences, and spatial needs of prospective small home owners.  The research was designed to capture information from individuals and families in western Massachusetts who earn between $16,000 and $52,000 annually and have a household size which does not exceed four people.

The Solutions Lab The Solutions Lab was an opportunity for our partners, as well as members of the larger community, to convene and build upon our knowledge base so far. The goal for the event was to get a better shared understanding of the potential of and challenges to the Big Enough pilot. This one-day event brought together over 50 research and thought leaders to lay the groundwork for implementation.

Zoning is local –
make change in your town!

Many thanks to many people
including:

Americorps

AmeriCorps members are making major and meaningful contributions to Habitat’s work of building strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter.
Habitat National Service/AmeriCorps members contributed to serving 33 percent of all U.S. families Habitat assisted with housing solutions in fiscal year 2014.
Since 1994, when AmeriCorps was created, more than 8,000 AmeriCorps members have served with Habitat throughout the United States.  Typically, Habitat places over 500 AmeriCorps members at more than 150 affiliates annually. Recruitment is done both locally and nationally.

AmeriCorps service helps build leaders for Habitat and the cause of affordable housing.

About 70 percent of Habitat AmeriCorps members continue to stay involved with Habitat in some way after their terms of service end. Each year, about a quarter of those finishing terms take staff positions with Habitat for Humanity International or Habitat affiliates across the country.

Developing a passion for Habitat and the cause of affordable housing during their AmeriCorps year, many alumni become active volunteers and advocates for the long term. Others have grown into staff leadership roles, with alumni serving as executive directors, program directors and construction managers at Habitat affiliates.

Habitat AmeriCorps is a public-private partnership that works.
AmeriCorps is an initiative of the federal Corporation for National and Community Service. Grants are awarded annually based on applications from a variety of nonprofit community organizations. Dollars awarded by CNCS are matched 1-to-1 by local private dollars. Members receive a modest living stipend. Habitat’s experience has been that AmeriCorps members are goal-oriented and deeply committed to community service.
While AmeriCorps members typically are in their 20s, it is not an age-based program. Current Habitat AmeriCorps members range in age from 18 to 65, providing diverse skills and experience.

Fall 2017 Golden Hammer Giver Campaign

We welcome the following new Golden Hammer community members and their combined contributions of $520/month going forward! A generous donor has made an additional contribution of $4,000 in honor of the commitment made by these folks to sustain the work of Habitat:

  • MJ Adams
  • Jane and Fred Andresen
  • Christine Aubrey
  • Lindsay Berry
  • Marybeth Bridegam
  • Janet and Booker Bush
  • Walt and Wendy Kohler
  • Amy Landry
  • Chouteau and Bill Levine
  • Mary and Paul McDonough
  • Libby and Spike McLarty
  • Stacy Metzger
  • Joan O’Brien
  • Susan Smith
  • Keith Woodruff

THANK YOU!

Big Enough: Pioneering the Small Home Revolution in Western Mass

small house with solar panels and ramp
Rendering of future Habitat home on Smith Street in Greenfield, MA

This spring in Greenfield, Pioneer Valley Habitat is planning to break ground on a small 2 bedroom house that is less than 1,000 square feet.  This home will be super energy efficient and have solar panels donated by our friends at PV Squared and cost less than $135,000 for the future homeowner.  Habitat spent $35,000 on the land and is trying to keep costs for construction to around $100,000. But what would it take to build a house that had half the price tag?  Would it need half the square footage?  What other changes would be needed to get our design and construction to $50,000?

In addition to our regular building work, Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is going to be asking experts and interested people over the next few months to weigh in on this question.  Can we increase access to homeownership options by building small?  What will be big enough?

Stay tuned for more exciting developments as we work with you to pioneer the small home revolution in western Mass.