GE Volunteers Help Two Families Get Homes By Christmas

Nearly 600 GE employees and retirees volunteered over a two-week period recently to help build two homes being sponsored by the company in partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County. Among those who participating in the recent projects was Newtown resident Jill Kazarro Heinrich.

These were the 11th and 12th homes GE has sponsored in the past decade. This was the second time GE volunteers had worked on Bunnell Street on Bridgeport’s east side to build a Habitat home.

As Habitat president and CEO Bob Knebel pointed out to the volunteers, “A decade ago, when GE was first on this street, the neighborhood was one of the most violent in New England. In just the past three years, however, owner-occupancy has increased 300 percent through Habitat and sponsors like GE, and the difference in the neighborhood is visible.”

Working alongside the volunteers most days were future homeowners Mack and Keisha Allen and Liz Kemp. Halfway through the project, 100 volunteers, family and friends joined the Allens and Kemps for the dedication of the homes, a Habitat ceremony that traditionally signals a home’s near completion. Both families hope to be moved in before the holidays.

“This project has meant a great deal more than just the financial support of GE,” Mack Allen told the volunteers. “The friendships we have built with many of you will be with us forever.”

The massive volunteer project served as the kick-off to the company’s United Way campaign. During lunch breaks each day, representatives of several United Way partner agencies addressed one of its key initiatives, Operation Graduation.

Marge Hiller, executive director of the Bridgeport Public Education Fund; Anne Gribbon, executive director of the School Volunteer Association of Bridgeport; and Bob Francis, executive director of RYASAP (Regional Youth/Adult Substance Abuse Project), described some of the mentoring and after-school programs designed to encourage students to graduate from high school, ready for college or the workplace.

For example, Ms Hiller explained, the Mentoring for Academic Achievement and College Success program pairs Bridgeport high school students with local college students. The mentors help the students learn about colleges, complete applications, prepare for SAT examinations, and apply for financial aid.

“We’re proud that 95 percent of students in the MACCS program go on to college,” Ms Hiller said.

Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County is an independently operated affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International, serving communities from Milford to Greenwich. Dedicated to making affordable home ownership a matter of conscience, it challenges individuals, churches, synagogues, businesses, and other organizations to lend a hand to those in need of safe, affordable, decent housing.

Named Urban Affiliate of the Year for the Northeast Region in 2005, Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County has built 115 homes since its founding in 1985. It hopes to build its 200th home by 2010 in Bridgeport, Norwalk or Stamford.

For information about volunteering on or donating to a home project, call 203-333-2642 or visit HabitatCFC.org.