WESTWOOD, N.J.—A light rain fell but ceremonial shovels rose to a bright future at Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County’s latest groundbreaking, Nov. 18 at a former minor dump: 95 Sand Road.
A single-family dwelling at the lot, just down the street from Zion Lutheran Church and two borough parks, one day soon will welcome a family of low to moderate income.
Westwood cleaned up and conveyed the leafy property, adjacent to Hegeman and Westvale parks, by resolution Dec. 18, 2018 in part to help satisfy its obligation to provide for affordable housing pursuant to the Fair Housing Act.
The borough resolved it would prefer to see the resultant home occupied by a disabled veteran.
Related, Habitat Bergen just completed four townhomes on Jefferson Avenue in Washington Township. Two veterans and their families will move into two of the units before Thanksgiving. Seniors are getting the other two units.
Bob’s Discount Furniture teamed up with the New York Giants and Bergen Habitat to provide $5,000 worth of furniture to the families, and on Friday, Nov. 22 at press time, greeted the families with a furniture reveal.
Bob’s and the Giants also volunteered on the build, sending volunteers to sheetrock, insulate, and paint the home. Performers from Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament in Lyndhurst, including several veterans, pitched in on painting this summer.
95 Sand Road a first
According to Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County Executive Director Maureen Cameron, speaking at Westwood’s groundbreaking ceremony Nov. 18, this is the first home that her organization is building in the borough.
She was backed by Mayor John Birkner Jr. and councilmembers Beth Dell, Chris Montana, Jodi Murphy, and Erin Collins, the latter two with kids in tow; Bergen Habitat staff and volunteers, including founding president Margaret Cook-Levy; Construction Director Gary Kuhl; and Department of Public Works Superintendent Rick Woods.
Cameron explained that in its first 25 years Bergen Habitat has built and/or renovated more than 28 homes: two in Teaneck, four in Hackensack, six in Englewood, two in East Rutherford, four in Waldwick, one in Garfield, four in Oradell, one in Bergenfield, and four in Washington Township.
Cameron said talks are in the works to take on needed renovations in Hillsdale and Emerson.
Westwood also is home, at 121 Carver Ave., to Bergen ReStore, a nonprofit thrift shop-styled home improvement store and donation center that sells new and gently used furniture, appliances, home accessories, and building materials at a fraction of the retail price.
Proceeds are used to help Habitat for Humanity “build strength, stability, self-reliance, and shelter in local communities and around the world.”
Habitat Bergen aims to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness by working in partnership with people in need. Using volunteer labor and donated funds and materials, it builds or rehabilitates “simple, decent houses” and sells them to low-income families at cost—with no interest added.
Construction and repair work on Habitat homes is largely provided by volunteers including Habitat Bergen’s “Greyheads,” retired senior volunteers who bring their considerable skills to each project.
The organization sponsored a home in Veracruz for a Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project—an annual home building push organized by Habitat for Humanity International and its affiliates— and volunteers from Bergen County took part.
Habitat Bergen recently was recognized with the Lasting Achievement Award from the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.
It began with one person meeting a need. Margaret Cook-Levy, formerly on Habitat For Humanity’s International Board of Directors and now a board member residing in Savannah, Georgia, recalled for the crowd that “This [Habitat Bergen] all started on my kitchen table on Seventh Avenue in Westwood.”
Given that beginning, she said, “It gives me great pleasure to see this house being built in Westwood. I hope we get many more.”
Cook-Levy spent decades helping to create opportunities for those in need in Bergen County, including the founding of Pascack Valley Meals on Wheels (now Meals on Wheels North Jersey) and the Thomas J. Riley Senior Center, and through her work on transportation and other inclusive initiatives.
At the groundbreaking ceremony, Cook-Levy wielded a shovel that Birkner said last broke ground for Westvale Park.
At a breakfast Nov. 14 at the Iron Horse honoring Cook-Levy—the morning after Habitat Bergen’s 25 Years of Building Gala—Board President Sonja Clark said that Bergen Habitat has relied on the generosity of individual and corporate donors to fund the building or rehab of more than 100 homes in 14 towns across the county.
“It is through the commitment to service demonstrated by our individual and team volunteers, and the sweat equity of our families, that we help our low-income neighbors achieve the dream of home ownership,” Clark said.
Birkner said at the breakfast—hosted by longtime Levy-Cook collaborator Lee Tremble— that the 95 Sand Road conveyance “fit perfectly into what we really try to do: lend a hand out to bring people up at every opportunity, and that’s what Habitat does.”
