Habitat for Humanity forges ahead with North East home construction

MILLERTON — Dutchess County Habitat for Humanity volunteers completed setting the new home in the Town of North East on its foundation Wednesday, Nov. 6.

“The house set on Wednesday was amazing and went very smoothly, taking only 5 hours,” said Todd Bowen, Habitat for Humanity’s Senior Project Director. “We are very grateful to all of our volunteers and subcontractors that made this day a success.”

Last month, the foundation was completed with the installation of sill plates, which was done with help from volunteers. The three-bedroom home will be approximately 1,400 square feet, laying on a half-acre of land, and is expected to be ready for the family by the middle of December.

“We are also so grateful to everyone who stopped by during the house set, introduced themselves and showed their support to Habitat,” Bowen said.

Habitat’s next steps will include weekly volunteer days scheduled to begin on Tuesday, Nov. 12, when people can help with either interior or exterior work. The beginning of the week will begin with the porch and stair construction, then later moving to appliance installations and sealing the home.

“We will begin to build the back and side porches and there is opportunity to do some interior work if porches are not your thing,” Bowen said. “We have something for everyone!”

Habitat for Humanity is still looking for volunteers throughout the process of building the home in the Town of North East. To volunteer, go to www.habitatdutchess.org/volunteer/ and look under “construction volunteer opportunities.” You must be 16 years old to participate.