Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity Teams up with Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School Carpentry Program
Bedminster, NJ (June 16, 2022) Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity (RV Habitat) is proud to partner with the Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School (SCVTHS) Carpentry Program on projects large and small. The students built and donated a playhouse, and are now providing crucial assistance in getting Eileen Strasko, a Bound Brook, NJ resident, back into her home following the devastation of Hurricane Ida.
Welcoming students onto the repair jobsite is a huge benefit to Strasko, RV Habitat’s volunteer team, and the students. “Having the students volunteer for Habitat for Humanity provided them with the opportunity to apply the skills they learned in the shop in a real-life scenario. It is one thing to learn how to install sheetrock in a shop space, but to actually enter into a person’s home and produce quality work that will last for years to come is quite another,” says SCVTHS Carpentry Instructor James Foley. “The students were eager to work and hopefully garnered great satisfaction knowing that with each piece of drywall hung up and each phase of spackling completed they were helping to get the house one step further to being occupied again. This volunteering experience also helps to build a sense of community among the students, everyone working together to achieve a common goal.”
Seventy-one-year-old Strasko has been displaced since Hurricane Ida hit in September 2021. Her home of more than fifty years was completely flooded in the storm, destroying the downstairs floors, walls, and appliances, as well as the entire electrical, plumbing, and heating systems. The SCVTHS students hung drywall and spackled, and will now install flooring. RV Habitat replaced the major systems with help from a grant provided by State Farm.
“We are thrilled to be working with such skilled and ambitious students,” says Jess Mauceri, RV Habitat’s volunteer coordinator. “Habitat’s mission is to bring people together to build homes, communities, and hope. These amazing young people are our community and hope for today and tomorrow.”
Critical Home Repair is part of RV Habitat’s Home Safety and Repair program, which includes Brush with Kindness (small exterior clean-up and maintenance), Small Repairs (like installing sheetrock, flooring, cabinets, or window panes), and Critical Home Repairs (larger repairs like roof or furnace replacement). Homeowners in need of repairs should contact Jessica Abbott at 908-704-0016, ext. 117 or visit rvhabitat.org/home-safety-repair for information and application details.
About Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity
Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity (RV Habitat) puts God’s love into action and brings people together to build homes, communities, and hope. Our vision is a time when everyone in Hunterdon and Somerset counties has a decent place to live. Since 1991, RV Habitat has been building strength, stability, and self-reliance through affordable homeownership opportunities.
RV Habitat is currently building a duplex in Raritan Township for two new homeowner families, working toward building a Veteran home in Somerville, and growing our Repair Program. To support these projects by making a donation, please visit www.rvhabitat.org/give or mail a donation to Raritan Valley Habitat for Humanity, P.O. Box 330, Pluckemin, NJ 07978. For individuals and groups who would like to volunteer, visit rvhabitat.org/volunteer. To shop, donate, or volunteer at our ReStore, visit rvhabitatrestore.org.