By KENNY WALTER
Staff Writer
LONG BRANCH — Habitat for Humanity in Monmouth County is not only building homes for families in need, but has begun a pursuit to transform entire neighborhoods.
Laura Lella-Smith, director of operations for the Monmouth County chapter of Habitat for Humanity, said during the City Council’s May 24 Workshop meeting that a new initiative has begun to help entire neighborhoods in Long Branch.
“Our latest initiative is right here in Long Branch — it is called the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative,” Lella-Smith said. “Our hope is to get the youth involved, get them out there on the street to help us not only build the homes, but also help with our neighborhood revitalization initiative.”
Part of the new initiative is the “House That Youth” built program which features local students helping to plan, design and build homes. Lella-Smith said the students learn basic construction techniques and assist with the design and planning of the homes.
“The students have been out at 241 Seventh Ave., and we started construction for a home for a Long Branch family,” Smith said. “It is a beautiful project and that is the kickoff to our Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative.”
According to Lella-Smith, the family that will benefit from the Seventh Avenue house is local. The students attend the local school system, and the father is an employee at Windmill. She also said the city donated the lot to Habitat for Humanity, and there will be future properties donated as well.
Lella-Smith said all the students assisting with the design and build of the houses are part of the Long Branch High School civil engineering program.
“It is totally supervised,” Lella-Smith said. “The idea is to keep the houses simple, decent, safe and affordable.
“We see the impact right away — they see that they can make a real change.”
Lella-Smith said residents were surveyed about issues important to them in the community, and she said a lot of the answers included cleanliness of the neighborhood and garbage pickup.
“It is about building hope for the communities,” Smith said. “We want to engage the trust of the residents so we are out there now getting to know the residents, and we’ve gotten a lot of help from the different city agencies.
“We want to be the agents of change, but we want the residents to empower themselves.”
She also said she is working with local churches and other organizations in setting up community meetings with residents.
Another project that is part of the initiative involves connecting a sidewalk at Amerigo A. Anastasia School on Morris Avenue with the neighborhood. Smith said that project is expected to begin within the next six months.
According to Smith, since superstorm Sandy, Habitat for Humanity has built more than 100 homes for families impacted by the storm.
For more information, visit www.habitatmonmouth.org.
