Happy Holidays!

We have so much to celebrate this year! We held our 284th Home Dedication last month. We broke ground on four homes in Fairfield, CT. We are excited that we are building in Fairfield for the first time. We are grateful for the generosity of the Town of Fairfield and we plan to continue the partnership with the Town in order to build more affordable Habitat homes for the families that we serve. 

Our Habitat families enjoyed our Annual Children’s Christmas Party this month. Santa Claus joined the party to deliver gifts. We are thankful to Stamford Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. & Marilyn Goldstone Foundation for making it a memorable occasion for Habitat children. 

Thank you for making 2023 such a successful year! Your time, talent and treasure transform lives by creating opportunities for affordable homeownership for so many families. 

At Habitat CFC, we put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope.

Blessings! 

Carolyn Vermont

Chief Executive Officer

Children's Holiday Party with Special Guest: Santa!

Presenting heartwarming snapshots and season’s greetings from our Children's Holiday Party! The event included a special, magical appearance by Santa Claus with gifts provided by his friends from the Marilyn Goldstone Foundation!  

We are thankful for all Habitat CFC homeowners and their children who joined us in celebrating the holiday season. Gratitude is extended to our event sponsor, Richard Jackson Jr. of the Stamford Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and our dedicated volunteers, including City Councilwoman Maria Ines Valle and her grandchildren, Izaiha and Liza. The event was wonderful, made possible by so many partners working together to spread joy in our community!

Community Partner Spotlight! 📣

Thank you to Universal Faith Outreach Ministry for hosting our Homebuyer Informational Session!

In December, Universal Faith Outreach Ministry, led by Pastor Apostles Marcus and Judy Stovall, held a Habitat CFC Affordable Housing Program Informational Session. The event aimed to promote Habitat's Homeownership program to the church’s congregants and ultimately attracted twenty-five members!

Eugene “Gene” Gaillard, our Program Manager for the Advancing Black Homeownership initiative, actively engaged with Universal Faith Outreach Ministry members following their Sunday service. The session began with an exploration of the History of Race and Housing in the US, providing insights into enduring discriminatory practices impacting wealth generation for Black individuals. Gene also provided detailed information about Habitat's Homeownership program.  

Maribel Sanabria, Habitat CFC’s Mortgage and Closing Agent, explained the mortgage and closing processes to the prospective homeowners. The interactive session was a great success as participants posed insightful questions, and all attendees left with applications to apply for Habitat's homeownership program!

Three families received the keys to their new homes on Clifford Street!

Exciting news from the East End of Bridgeport! December marked a joyous occasion as three incredible families celebrated as new neighbors outside of their beautiful homes on Clifford Street! 🏡✨ 

Alma Machado, Rafael Colon, Candice Stanford, Yeymi Salas, and Raul Ortiz, welcome to your brand-new, energy-efficient, and affordable Habitat CFC homes. Your unwavering commitment and hard work in the journey to purchasing your homes laid the foundation for this remarkable day. May your homes be filled with love, laughter, and countless cherished memories for years to come.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who played a crucial role in making this dream a reality. A big shoutout to our dedicated staff, passionate volunteers, and generous donors. Your unwavering support and commitment continue to transform lives in our Coastal Fairfield County community.

We built garden gifts for our friends at the Green Village Initiative!

In December, our warehouse started to look like Santa’s workshop! 🎅🏼 Together, we built wooden gifts for the Green Village Initiative — four planters, hexa-beds, and compost bins for two organic community gardens located in #Bridgeport. 🥕👩🏻‍🌾

Funded by Hubbell Incorporated, the items were handcrafted by some of Santa’s hardest working elves: volunteers from the United Methodist Coalition and a couple of members from Youth United and Women Build. Later in the day, the team also helped us make a few wall panels for a future Habitat CFC home. We could not build homes, community, and hope without your support and teamwork! 

Happy Holidays from our Habitat CFC family to yours!

This year’s Staff Holiday Party was a jolly time at Little Pub in Stratford, CT! It’s great to celebrate the season with both new and long-time staff and Board members. Grateful for the incredible team and the impact we've made together. Cheers to building community, homes, and spreading hope for a brighter future! 

Future Builders: Youth United's Gingerbread House Making Event was a Success!

Our Youth United group had a successful gingerbread house making event filled with sweet creativity! 

Based on the impressive building skills showcased during the event, it wouldn't surprise us if we have future Habitat for Humanity CFC Build Site Supervisors or contractors in this talented group! Their creativity and attention to detail might just translate into building real homes one day! 🏡🛠️

Thank you to our staff, YU advisors, and volunteers that helped to make this event possible!

Interested in joining Youth United? Click the link below!

Calling all volunteers! Individual volunteer opportunities now available.

Construction is the most popular of our volunteer opportunities. Volunteers assist with all stages of home construction, including, but not limited to, framing, painting, and landscaping. No construction experience or skills are required, and volunteers are supervised by our Project Managers. In most cases, you will not know the specific scope of work until you arrive on the work site.

We are in need of volunteers in the month of January! Create an account through our volunteer management system to learn more and sign up today.

There's still time to give!

Help us build four homes in the Town of Fairfield.

We are progressing on our goal of raising $800,000 to build 4 new homes in Fairfield. However, we have not made it to our MATCH yet and time is running out! Please help us reach our match. Your donation of any amount will help!

During this season of giving, we are looking to partner with the community to fund the material cost for four Habitat CFC houses in Fairfield, CT. An anonymous Fairfield family as well as the Elizabeth and Joseph Massoud Family Foundation will match every donation we receive from our supporters and community members — each up to $200,000. That’s 400,000 combined!

Please consider becoming a part of this unique and exciting opportunity to double your impact by contributing to our Annual Appeal. Your donation will help us successfully build affordable housing in the Town of Fairfield for the first time ever!

If you have already given, we're thankful for your partnership! We could not do our work without your support.

Employee Spotlight - Evans Charles

Last month, Evans joined our Habitat CFC team as our newest Site Supervisor! About why he was interested in joining the team, Evans said:

“I decided to work for Habitat CFC because I get to meet many volunteers, and learn from them as well as teach them."

Save the Date!

2024 Annual Gala: Set Sail to Habitat Island

Save the date! Set sail and join us on Habitat Island for our 2024 Annual Gala on Saturday, April 6, 2024 from 6 – 10:30 p.m. at the Woodway Country Club in Darien, CT!

The event will include live music, cocktails, dinner, dancing, and exciting live and silent auctions. Support Habitat for Humanity CFC's mission by becoming a sponsor, purchasing tickets, or donating to our auctions.

Stay tuned to habitatcfc.org/gala for more information coming soon. 

If you're interested in becoming a sponsor for this event, please contact Jay Helmer, Event Manager, at jhelmer@habitatcfc.org or 203-333-2642 ext. 126.

Remodeling, cleaning out your home, downsizing or just getting organized?

Consider donating to our ReStore in Stratford, CT! Donations of new and gently used items from individuals and businesses in our community are then sold to the public at a reduced cost, usually 50-70 percent of the original retail value! All sales net proceeds benefit the mission of Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County.