Food, Family, Fun and Habitat LA’s 1,001st home
On November 19th Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles (Habitat LA) hosted one of our biggest home dedication ceremonies to date. We celebrated the achievement of nine families reaching their dreams of homeownership with a day filled with community building, family, and tears of joy and wonder.
The Millennium Homes Development is a historic milestone for our partner families and Habitat LA as it features ten affordable, energy efficient homes located in Long Beach’s Washington neighborhood, and it includes the 1,001st home built by Habitat LA! The milestones and reasons to celebrate do not stop there. The Millennium Homes Development also includes the 1,000th home personally built by Habitat LA’s President & CEO, Erin Rank. Under her more than two decades of leadership, Habitat LA has helped build new affordable homes in partnership with thousands of volunteers each year. Rank has led Habitat LA to be the top nonprofit residential home builder in Los Angeles four years in a row. During the dedication ceremony, Rank said, “This development could not have been built without the amazing support of the City of Long Beach and the Long Beach Community Investment Company, who came together to donate the land for this development. We are so grateful for the decades-long collaboration with the City of Long Beach, which has been such a strong advocate for our work.”
Habitat LA is so proud to introduce our newest partner homeowners in Long Beach’s Washington neighborhood, an anchor in our Neighborhood Revitalization Program which was established in 2015. Built with love, the Millennium Homes will provide a beautiful and stable place for families to create memories for years to come. Many families mentioned how great and stress-relieving it would be to simply have their own garages, and the youth rejoiced in finally having their own rooms to study and play.
As the first ever homebuyer in her family, Aimee said she’s most looking forward to “the simple everyday things, having space for [her son] to have quiet time, to do his homework and read every day. And, having the space to have family over to visit.”
Our partner families come from various backgrounds. Over the course of developing the Millennium Homes, they built the foundation of community with their new neighbors as they worked on each other’s homes to fulfill their sweat equity hours. New homeowner, Dereje W. mentioned how touching it was to support his budding community, saying, “It makes me happy! If I have more time for sweat equity, I wish to continue to show my empathy and what I have to contribute to this big opportunity.”
The dedication ceremony was an opportunity to build further connections with each other and the Habitat LA community through music, homemade dishes, and much more. Susan Booth, Habitat LA Chair gave the opening remarks of the ceremony, mentioning, “Homeownership, especially in Southern California, has become out of reach for most of the population, but Habitat for Humanity works every day to change that.” Now, our partner families can set a new trajectory for their lives with stability, safety and a deep sense of community in their new homes.
A very special thanks to the many partners and sponsors who joined us in dedicating the Millennium Homes to our partner families. Special guests and speakers included Rex Richardson, Long Beach Mayor-elect, Mary Zendejas, Long Beach Councilmember, First District; Mary Castro, Chair, Long Beach Community Investment Company; Jeanette Christian, Field Representative for United States Senator Dianne Feinstein; Clayton Heard, Senior Field Representative for Congressman Alan Lowenthal; Jacob O’Donnell, Field Representative for State Senator Lena Gonzalez; Herlinda Chico, Field Deputy for Los Angeles County Board Supervisor Janice Hahn; and Daniel Brezenoff, Legislative Director and Senior Advisor to Mayor of Long Beach Robert Garcia.
More than 700 donors, including companies, foundations, public entities, religious organizations, and individuals, contributed to the construction of the homes through financial support and volunteer labor. Together, we are building homes, communities and hope throughout greater Los Angeles.
View all dedication photos HERE