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Green Affordable Philadelphia Breaking New
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March 15, 2007 marked the groundbreaking
ceremony for Philadelphia’s first low-income homes
included in the LEED for Homes Pilot Program. The
seven-home Stiles Street Project will not only
allow for greater private ownership in
Philadelphia for a community that is in dire need
of affordable housing, but will also
environmentally complement a neighborhood that is
gradually becoming a prosperous, mixed-income
community.
Celebrating Habitat’s first green project
in the city, the ceremony was a “groundbreaking”
one for Habitat supporters, and it included
speeches by Habitat staff, Dawn Davis, who
recently moved into her Habitat home in West
Philadelphia, members of the East Parkside
community and sponsor representatives such as
Barbara Weber, GlaxoSmithKline,
Juan Rubio, Nationwide,
and Chace Gundlach, JP
Morgan Chase. Also attending were
representatives from Super
Marvin Enterprises, Tague
Lumber, and Integrity
Windows who have donated all of the windows
for the 7 homes. Other sponsors not represented
include the Patrick
F. Monaghan Foundation and US
Airways.
Actual construction on the homes will begin
in May with Madison
Concrete donating the labor for the ICF
foundations for all seven homes. Additional inkind
contributions have come from Consolidate
d Brick, Rinnai,
BioBased
Insulation, and PolySteel.
Following the groundbreaking ceremony, GSK
contributed an additional $24,000, making them a
full sponsor on one of the homes. Rebecca and
Khaliff Brown, the adult members of the family
matched to the GSK sponsored home, were on hand
with two of their three children. An added bonus
for families moving in to the Stiles Street homes
– a lifetime supply of Aquafresh Toothpaste was
announced at the groundbreaking by Barbara
Weber.
The seven homes are slated for completion in
December. Stay tuned for on-going updates on this
project.
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"A Rehab” of the Philadelphia Zoning Code
Could Help Philadelphia Become the Next Great City
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Philadelphians asked to vote
on May 15 regarding Zoning Referendum
One of the greatest impediments to
increasing the number of properties Habitat
Philadelphia builds is the time it takes to
acquire property and make our way through the maze
of zoning and building permits required. Thanks to
the efforts of many community groups and
organizations and a referendum on the ballot in
the up-coming primary, that may soon change.
Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia, as part of the
Next Great City coalition, has been following the
issues involved with the Zoning Referendum on the
May 15 ballot. The current Philadelphia Zoning
Code is a 642 page long, 40 year old document. The
up-coming referendum would allow residents to
have a voice in modernizing the code by involving
residents firsthand in shaping their neighborhoods
and defining what development is appropriate.
Some of the proposed topics to be included in
modernizing the zoning code are:
- Create zoning that is predictable and
consistently enforced
- Encourage active housing and retail
development near transit hubs
- Provide incentives for high performance
(sustainable) buildings
- Protect community-owned pocket parks,
gardens and playgrounds from development
pressures
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Women's Build Benefit Just Two Weeks Away
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Silent auction, food, and
entertainment in support of Habitat at the Free
Library of Philadelphia
When: Friday, April 27th, 2007, 6:30 -
9:00pm
Where: Free Library of
Philadelphia (located
at 1901 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA 19103)
Cost: $35/per person
Our annual Women's Build Benefit is always
a fun, relaxed evening with delicious food, wine
and beer, entertainment, and a silent auction with
a variety of interesting items to compete for!
Some of this year's auction pieces
include:
- signed footballs by Eagles Brian Westbrook
and David Akers
- a golf outing for two golfers with Eagle
Todd Herremans and friend
- Franklin Institute Family Fun Pack
(including passes to the museum, Fels
Planetarium, IMAX, and more)
- a cottage vacation near Gettysburg
- Pennsylvania ballet tickets to "The Sleeping
Beauty"
- an authentic leather (XL) Eagles team jacket
signed by Jon Runyan (not available in stores)
- Salon packages
- 2 hour image consultation with Pamela Dollak
of "Tony"
- restaurants, artwork, hand-knitted apparel,
and much more!
(Visit
our website for a more comprehensive list of the
items up for bid.)
Come out and support our hardworking women
as they raise the funds needed for their fourth
house construction to begin later this
year!
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Singles Build: The Hottest New Ticket in
Town |
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Philadelphia singles get
pumped for their first build-and-date!
Attention all you single folks! Tired of the
superficial dating scene? Interested in meeting
other men and women with a similar commitment to
making Philadelphia a better place by serving the
community? Come on out to one of our Singles Build
dates! Participants will spend half a day building
on a Habitat site, networking together over a
boxed lunch, and relaxing at an after-party at a
local restaurant to rehash the day's events (and
perhaps exchange a few numbers!)
It's not too late to sign up! Visit our
website for our online
registration form and/or downloadable
form.
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HABITAT STAT: Did You Know?
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The affordable housing crisis not only
affects families - it affects the fundamental
quality of life in our neighborhoods as well. Far
too many Philadelphians worry about vacant and
abandoned buildings on their block, about
attracting younger families to the neighborhoods,
and about ensuring that their houses are sturdy
enough to pass on to their children and
grandchildren.
CLICK TO DONATE NOW
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