Galloway Council Reimburses Funds for Habitat for Humanity

In a letter to Galloway Township Manager Stephen Bonnanni dated May 19, 2011, Atlantic County Habitat for Humanity President Robert Reid asked that the township to reimburse the organization monies spent to acquire a building lot that will be used for a home constructed by students at Atlantic County Institute of Technology.

Part of that letter reads as follows:

“Habitat for Humanity, Atlantic County has a new home waiting to be placed on the property. The new home currently is at ACIT in Hamilton Township. The students have completed the home and they require it to be moved to allow for the start of another home.

The new homeowner is anxiously waiting for the home to be available. A member of the qualified family includes a Richard Stockton student that is wheelchair bound due to a neck injury. He looks forward to his new wheelchair accessible home in close proximity of the college. 

We would greatly appreciate the reimbursement for the cost of the building lot to help make this new home for a deserving family a reality. As with all our homes in Galloway, this new home will be deed restricted to comply with affordable housing requirements.”

“Habitat for Humanity builds and sells homes to qualified applicants who have lived in low-income housing during their lifetimes,” Reid said. “We build and sell homes at zero percent interest. We asked Galloway for reimbursement of the $55,000 we paid to acquire the building lot, plus closing costs, from the Housing Trust Fund in Galloway. It is funded by fees from developers for purposes such as this.

“Habitat for Humanity does not make money by building and selling homes. Our goal is to help needy and deserving families have a better life. We must move the home from the Atlantic County Institute of Technology campus to the lot, and we hope to complete this task before the end of June. It is our goal to then complete the other necessary construction on the home and make it available to the family early this fall.”

The Galloway Township Council voted to reimburse Habitat for Humanity the requested funds at its meeting Tuesday night. Reid and Habitat for Humanity Executive Director Debbie Murray were in attendance at the meeting, and they were both gratified that the request had been fulfilled.

“Thank you for the resolution,” Reid told the council at Tuesday’s meeting. “The home has been constructed and a family has been chosen.”

“We are excited to be back in Galloway,” Murray said. “This has been one of the easiest municipalities to deal with.”