Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake Builds Three New Townhomes in Pigtown
Last Friday, Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for three new-construction homes in Pigtown. The organization built the homes on a vacant lot on the 1100 block of Ward St. The project also included two home rehabs on the block.
The lot was created after the demolition of eight homes that were lost to a fire in the early 2010s.
Paul’s Place controls a green space in between the new townhomes and its facility. It is partnering with the Pigtown community on a garden.
The new, brick-front townhomes are 20 ft. wide and two stories tall. They all have three bedrooms, one and a half bathrooms, unfinished basements, a small yard, and a rear parking pad. They each feature a custom-made cornice with ‘HFH’ for Habitat for Humanity carved into the cornice.
Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake has been working in Pigtown for 15 years and has already constructed 21 new homes and renovated 29 existing homes in the community.
Two of the new homeowners are Francine and Najee. Francine works as an addiction counselor and Najee works at Johns Hopkins Hospital as a training instructor.
Like all Habitat homeowners, Francine and Najee will own a home with a monthly mortgage capped at 30 percent of their annual income, and a zero percent interest rate. Habitat homebuyers also receive financial education classes and participate in 250 “sweat equity” hours at Habitat build sites and at the Chesapeake ReStores.
Partners on the homes include the Baltimore Orioles, Paul’s Place, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, Brown Advisory, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Bank of America, The Abell Foundation, Stanley Black and Decker, The Catholic University of America, DAP, Maryland Food Bank, and Northrop Grumman.
Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake recently started work on nine new homes in Curtis Bay.
About the Author: Kevin Lynch
Founder and Publisher of SouthBmore.com, longtime resident of South Baltimore, and a graduate of Towson University. Diehard Ravens and O's fan, father of three, amateur pizza chef, skateboarder, and "bar food" foodie. Email me at Kevin@InceptMM.com and follow me on Twitter at @SoBoKevin.
