PITTSBURGH — Habitat for Humanity Pittsburgh broke ground on three new homes in Homewood along Tioga Street.
“There’s are a lot of benefits for communities when families become homeowners,” said Dr. Howard B. Slaughter, Jr., president & CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh. “When you’re a homeowner, you take care of your home, you build equity. You’re concerned with the community around you; all those things are a byproduct of being a homeowner.”
Slaughter says they wanted to continue their work in Homewood tackling some of the housing challenges.
“When you have a community that’s a high concentration of transient individuals, it lacks in stabilization,” Slaughter said.
The homes will be adjacent to three other homes the non-profit built back in 2022. Dr. Slaughter says he hopes the families who move into these homes will follow in their success.
“We have three families; they have kids, they’re excited and they’re really looking forward to this next phase of development here,” Slaughter said.
Each home is sold with a 30-year 0% fixed interest rate mortgage.
“This is not a handout; this is a hand up for hard-working families who need it,” said Habitat for Humanity board member Christina Morascyzk.
The lot of land was part of the City of Pittsburgh Land Bank. Mayor Corey O’Connor says the city is eager to develop on lots like these.
“When we look at the land bank, the city has thousands of parcels of land. We can’t build all at once, but we do have infrastructure money to clean the sites out because if you look across the city, most vacant lots are where people used to live.”
Habitat for Humanity says they are hoping to have the homes finished within the next 6 months.
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