Jennifer MacNeil, the selected recipient of a Habitat for Humanity house donated by Wesleyan, watched the ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 13, as work on her future home was officially inaugurated.
The Northern Middlesex Habitat for Humanity (NHMFH) presented the house to the MacNeil family at a ceremony attended by sponsors, Middletown politicians, Habitat board personnel, volunteers and members of the Wesleyan community.
MacNeil is a mother of five children ages 17, 13, 14, 10 and 2. All six of them have been living with MacNeil’s sister and her two children since their mother died this past year.
“It’s been tough,” MacNeil said, “but in a house with seven children, there’s never a dull moment.”
President of the Board of Middletown’s NHMFH chapter, Richard Engelhardt, recounted a brief history of the organization since 1976 when Habitat, an international ecumenical movement, was founded to improve substandard housing conditions in the United States and abroad, including a substantial campaign in Zaire. Since its foundation, the organization has built or redone over 100,000 homes. This home is the seventh for the Northern Middlesex Habitat chapter.
Habitat’s motto is to provide partner families with “a hand up, not a hand out.” After selected, partner families must repay the cost of the home to Habitat with a no-interest, non-profit mortgage plan. Prior to reaching this point, however, families undergo a rigorous screening process, which is aimed at selecting those with greatest need.
“The worst part of this process is contacting the families that aren’t selected for the houses,” said Richard Engelhardt, president of the Board of Directors. “It just makes me want to double our efforts.”
The MacNeil family’s difficult situation, of attempting to survive on one salary in poor housing conditions, made them an optimum candidate for the program. MacNeil enthusiastically relived the moment she received the letter from Habitat informing her that she had been selected.
“I was too excited,” MacNeil said.
Other speakers at MacNeil’s ribbon cutting ceremony included the Mayor of Middletown, Dominique Thornton, the Vice President of Finance and Administration, Marcia Bromberg, student president of the campus Habitat chapter, Darrah Sipe, the President, Doug Bennet, and the Executive Director of NHMFH, Joyce Hatton Yarrow.
The ceremony concluded with Reverend Mary Klaaren, Senior Pastor of the United Church of Christ (UCC) South Congressional Church, reciting a prayer of dedication.
The event marked the beginning of what will be about a six-month project, according to Yarrow, to work on the interior and roof of the house and to complete an addition. Wesleyan donated the house, and funds for construction came from Middlesex Association of the UCC, Liberty Bank, Citizens Bank, Rotary Club of Middletown and the Federal Home Loan Bank.
Sipe has already begun work with a team of student volunteers, which will continue through the winter until the house is complete.
“In today’s market, it’s so difficult to find land or a house and we have so many families in need,” Yarrow said. “But I am so glad we can do this for this family. Days like today are just thrilling.”
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