Habitat for Humanity Pilots New Live/Work Program

Live:Work Washington St

Habitat for Humanity is known for their work of creating housing for low-income families. So far, in Newburgh, they have constructed or rehabilitated 75 homes in the city. The Newburgh affiliate is now taking on a new challenge, creating live/work opportunities for qualifying families who would also like to open up their own business. This is a major achievement for Newburgh as only 3 grants were awarded to Habitat affiliates across the United States. The other two grants for the live/work program went to Seattle and Austin.

The target area for this new program is Washington Street, more specifically the empty lot next to the old Habitat headquarters. This project is for new construction. Habitat owns 3 of the 5 vacant lots on that site, and will start the live/work program with just one property and eventually complete the remaining 2. Construction for the first building is planned to begin in the Spring of 2015, per the regulations of a $100,000 implementation grant. Habitat already owned these vacant lots and felt this location will flow with the Liberty Street corridor that is already seeing momentum. This site is also in close proximity to their other projects.

The live/work model harks back to the old days over 100 years ago when a business owner ran his business on the first floor of a building, and raised his family on the second floor. This is the exact reason we can see structures like this all over Newburgh on Liberty, William, Washington, Mill and South Street. A live/work space could provide commercial space for professional or community services, retail businesses, food services, light industrial, or creative spaces. Interested parties must qualify for Habitat’s housing program falling within their income brackets, and have a business plan.

Habitat is excited for this project to begin and is already envisioning how this live/work model can be used for historical buildings. In the future they would concentrate their efforts on specific areas and are open to working with other developers. Families can already begin to apply if interested. To apply, contact Clinton McNair, Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator 845-569-5632 x 104,  cmcnair@habitatnewburgh.org

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One Comment

  • This is amazing.

    I volunteered with Newburgh Habitat for many months, and the people involved are some of the most dedicated philanthropists I’ve met. If anybody deserves a grant for such a program, based on hard work and previous success rate, it would be this group.

    The end results of the project should be amazing, too. This will give allot of people a leg up with their small businesses. Only good can come of this!