Local Dedication
By Shaun Field
As the red ribbon hung from the banister after the ceremonial ribbon cutting, TaShawn Wilkins stepped into her brand new, Energy Star® certified home at East Trenton, NJ. Having completed 300 hours of required sweat equity over the course of the year, Tashawn Wilkins and her two children became the proud owners of the new home with red brick façade. With three bedrooms the family can live comfortably and each child will have their own bedroom for the first time.
For Construction Coordinator, Dan Santa Lucia, the ribbon cutting ceremony, held on Thursday, September 20th, was a day of pride. Laughing and recounting stories, Dan’s face showed great appreciation and respect for the hard work of the Wilkins family and the other volunteers on hand.
Touching on the help of university students from Rider, Princeton and The College of New Jersey as well as regular Saturday volunteers, Dan give high praises for long time corporate volunteers, Credit Suisse and ETS and the corporate sponsor for the house, Bloomberg Corporation, for their dedication and enthusiasm over the course of the year.
Members of the corporate office based in Skillman, NJ, were in attendance led by Monica Hilliard, head of the Bloomberg philanthropy division.
Chelsea Naylor, Director of Community Outreach for Habitat for Humanity of Trenton noted: “To see the new homeowner, who has put in over 300 hours of work into the home, finally receiving her keys and consequently a renewal on life is truly inspiring,” Naylor said.
For Habitat and Naylor the transition from house to home is the ultimate goal. “For the first time, her children are going to have their own rooms. They’re going to have a kitchen table to sit around, and a living room to do their homework in. That’s huge,” Naylor said.
In her new role, Naylor aims to expand the reach of Habitat in the community by forming mutually beneficial partnerships with other non-profit organizations in the area.
This issue originally appeared in the Fall 2012 issue of the newspaper.