Sussex County Habitat for Humanity celebrates new family moving into the organization’s 150th built home

ELLENDALE, Del.- Thursday evening, a Delaware family was given the gift of a lifetime.

A brand new home courtesy of the Sussex County Habitat for Humanity.

This was a big moment for the organization, as this was their 150th build.

“The 150th house is really just a demonstration of how amazing the community is here in Sussex County to be able to bring together the resources and the people in the volunteers to pull off this feet of 150 houses in Sussex county is extraordinary,” Kevin Gilmore, Executive Director of Sussex County Habitat for Humanity, said.

We are told trying to build homes during the pandemic has been a real challenge, as they haven’t been able to hold fundraising events and have lost out on volunteers.

“So, financially that was a pretty tough blow but the big one was our volunteers, our mission is to bring people together to build homes and communities and hope in during a pandemic it’s hard to bring people together in large groups,” Gilmore said.

Despite the challenges though, they were able to get a family into a new home just in time for the holidays.

And for the volunteers that did help they said they felt safe enough to do so and they’re just glad they could lend a helping hand.

“All safety precautions were follow and everything and you know it’s just it’s very very cliché to say but it feels so good to give back,” Drew Laplaca, AmeriCorps NCCC Communications Rep., said.

“We feel very lucky to be able to even do this during a pandemic 19 00 and to be able to help out and give back when a lot of people you know aren’t able to do that,” Vivianne Siquieros, with the AmeriCorps NCCC, said.

The Executive Director for Sussex County Habitat for Humanity added that while the pandemic has challenged so many, it’s important to continue to build homes for families like this one.

“A home has never been more obvious as an important part of our life then when we’re sitting at home quarantined or working from home as so many of us are, so I think it’s really become much more aware as a society of the importance of a home,” Gilmore said.

The Executive Director said they were able to secure some COVID-19 grant funding to help them financially.

He also said that they added other programs to help keep people in their homes like repair savings programs, energy efficient programs, and financial counseling programs.