HILLSDALE—River Edge State Farm Agent Anita DaSilva has a strong history of demonstrating what it means to be a Good Neighbor. DaSilva recently presented Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County with a $10,000 grant from State Farm as part of the company’s Outstanding Community Engagement Program.
Anita was one of 100 agents across the country recognized for her community support and volunteerism. As a result, DaSilva selected Habitat to receive a $10,000 grant on behalf of State Farm.
“It was a great honor to be selected for this program,” DaSilva said in a State Farm press release shared with Pascack Press. “I’m humbled and grateful the State Farm funding can support Habitat for Humanity.”
Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County’s mission is to provide decent, affordable homes to hardworking families. Using volunteer labor and donated funds and materials, Habitat builds and rehabilitates simple, decent homes and sells them to low-income families at cost and with no interest charged.
The State Farm grant is supporting the 2022 Women Build program, which helps build a single family, handicapped-adaptable home in Hillsdale. This house will become the home of a deserving local family who is today living in substandard housing.
DaSilva is this year’s Women Build Committee co-chair, and the committee sponsors a week of building for women. Women Build is offered throughout the U.S. and provides women the opportunity to take a proactive step in servicing their communities.
“Once this Hillsdale project is complete, it will provide a family with a new start on life and allow them to participate within the community,” Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County executive director Teri Capparelli told Pascack Press. “These types of donations help us bring affordable housing to one of the most expensive counties in the country.”
“At State Farm, we are dedicated to helping build stronger neighborhoods,” DaSilva added. “For me, it’s not enough to simply say I’m a good neighbor, but I also embrace the responsibility to make Bergen County better by being a part of a solution.”
Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County kicked off its latest Pascack Valley home build with a livestreamed celebration in the borough: the groundbreaking ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021 at noon at 2 Chestnut St.
The nonprofit partnered with the borough to construct a single-family home that will be purchased by a Habitat partnership family.
Capparelli told Pascack Press at the time, “During two and a half decades of building in Bergen County, Bergen Habitat has relied on the generosity of individual and corporate donors to fund the building or rehabilitation of more than 114 homes in 14 towns across the county.”
She said, “It is through the commitment to service demonstrated by our individual and team volunteers, and the volunteer hours of our families, that we help our homeowners achieve the dream of home ownership. Homeownership should be a necessity and not a luxury.”
Hillsdale Mayor John Ruocco told Pascack Press that the borough was pleased that officials “were finally able to arrive at this point, after several discussions and meetings with the Habitat for Humanity officials, with the residents, and with various council members.”
He said, “The building of an affordable home at this location was an important requirement of the affordable housing plan that the mayor and council adopted in 2017 and which the courts approved.”
Habitat, he said, has been a leader in providing affordable housing to residents who might not otherwise be able to afford to buy a home.
“I especially admire the ‘sweat equity’ that the occupants will be putting into the construction. I thank all of our borough professionals who had a hand in making this happen, especially borough attorney Mark Madaio and borough engineer Chris Statile,” Ruocco said.
He added, “I also appreciate the support that has come from PSE&G, Suez Water [now Veolia], and our residents, including some from my own church, who may become involved in the planning and construction.”
The mayor said, “The new residents of Hillsdale who will ultimately reside in this location are a welcome addition to the Hillsdale community. I look forward to welcoming them personally.”
Bergen Habitat most recently worked on homes for seniors and veterans in Westwood and the Township of Washington, and so far has built dozens of homes for hard-working families throughout Bergen County.
In February 2020 we reported that the borough had offered the Chestnut Street green to Habitat Bergen. The property, 50 feet by 100 feet at a dead end paper street and undersized for new development according to borough code, was one of approximately a dozen considered for affordable housing.
For more information visit Habitat for Humanity of Bergen County.