The day Dorota Karpinski met her future Habitat-NYC home was a sizzler. The sun was

merciless and the air barely stirred inside the four-story building at 512 Lafayette Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

“It was hard at first, because I didn’t have any experience in houses,” Dorota recalls her first eight hours of sweat equity. “It was very hot outside, and we put in drywall – it was very, very hard.”

A few short months later, she

S P R I N G 2 0 1 1

Habitat-NYC TIMES

>>Inside

Continued on page 6

Dorota Karpinski paints her future.

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Become a Champion for Central Brooklyn Habitat-NYC Homes

Page 4

Q & A with Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood

Page 3

Monroe Street Building to be Restored to New Life

Page 4was still onsite, wielding a paint brush with professional ease, her husband Slawomir by her side. “Now it feels great,” Dorota says. “I can work on my own house; I can show my kids my hard work in this house.”

St. John’s GroundbreakingHabitat-NYC Breaks Ground on St. John’s Residences. Photos and story on page 5.

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‘I Can Show My Kids My Hard Work in this House’

When the Karpinskis complete their sweat equity and sign their mortgage papers, they will own a precious slice of the American

V O L . 2 9 N O . 2

St. John’s Groundbreaking

Habitat-NYC Seeks Homeowners Check out our affordable homeownership opportunities at www.habitatnyc.org. Click on Own a Habitat Home.

From the Executive Director

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Habitat-NYCBoard of DirectorsPeter Knitzer, ChairE*TRADE Bank

Karim Hutson, Vice ChairGenesis Companies

Nia Rock, Vice ChairSovereign Bank

Neil Bader, TreasurerGuaranteed Home Mortgage Company, Inc.

Christine A. McGuinness, SecretarySchiff Hardin LLP

Jennifer ArmstrongHemlock Group

Rodneyse BichotteAmerican Express

Alatia Bradley

Evan BauerDealerTrack, Inc.

Robert L. BurchA.W. Jones Company

Charisse FordThe Estée Lauder Companies, Inc.

Carmen GellineauJPMorgan

Aileen GribbinForsyth Street Advisors, LLC

Chris HoeffelInvestcorp International Inc.

Jeff InfusinoOliver Wyman Financial Services

John IsaacsCB Richard Ellis

Rabbi Bob KaplanCAUSE-NY / JCRC

Shauna LongFUJIFILM Holdings America Corporation

Peter MurrayC&C Affordable Management LLC

Martha Parrish

Doug PaulCredit Suisse

Douglas Renfield-Miller

The Rev. Thomas SynanChurch of the Heavenly Rest

Judy TeevenAmerican Express Travel

David A. TerveenDK Display Corp.

Zali WinCredit Agricole

Rev. Johnny Ray YoungbloodMt. Pisgah Baptist Church

Josh LockwoodExecutive Director

“Good night. Sleep tight. Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

Remember when parents tucked children into bed with this simple poem? Today – for many of our family partners – the bedbug epidemic represents just one more housing nightmare.

An example is one of our new family partner homebuyers, who recently spoke about her living situation at a meeting of the Habitat for Humanity – New York City Board of Directors.

This homebuyer is a Muslim woman of Middle Eastern descent, with a husband and three small children. The family has just been accepted into our homeownership program. She and her husband have begun to fulfill the 400 hours of “sweat equity” they will need to perform to qualify for an affordable mortgage.

With her three-year-old son at her side, she spoke of her challenges with a neglectful landlord and the difficulty of living in a windowless, cramped basement apartment. First, the owner turned the heat off. Then rats and mice overran the apartment. Finally, there was a bedbug infestation.

She then pointed to her three-year-old child, covered in red swollen bug bites.When she called the landlord to complain, he blamed the family, and even went so far as to

threaten the family physically. The family, with Habitat-NYC’s support, called the police.I wish I could say that this family’s circumstances are exceptional. Unfortunately, we hear

similar stories every day at Habitat-NYC. That is what drives us, with your partnership and support, to seek out more families than ever before for our homeownership program.

This month we are launching a “Champions” program, comprised of New York City individuals, faith groups, corporations, elected officials, and nonprofits. They are charged with helping us find hardworking, low-income families who desperately need better housing. Our program requires a real commitment from the prospective family partners – sweat equity hours, financial literacy training, condominium association training, and finally, payment of an affordable mortgage and common charges each month.

As we build, acquire and rehabilitate, more condominiums and co-ops than ever before, this group of Champions will help to transform the lives of remarkable New York City families living in dire, unsustainable circumstances.

At this critical time, it’s just one more way you are helping us to strengthen our city! On behalf of all of us at Habitat-NYC, thank you!

Habitat for Humanity - New York Citytransforms lives and our city by building quality homes

for families in need and by uniting all New Yorkersaround the cause of affordable housing.

111 John Street, 23rd FloorNew York, NY 10038Tel: (212) 991-4000www.habitatnyc.org

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Brush with Kindness Brightens NYCHA Centers

Habitat-NYC volunteers are in a painting frenzy, brushing public housing community centers throughout New York City with kindness, vivid paint and cheerful murals.

Since launching our Brush with Kindness partnership with the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) this winter, ten community centers are now blooming with color.

In February, ten couples celebrated Valentine’s Day by painting the Jacob Riis Houses center in the Lower East Side. These generous volunteers also raised $7,000 to help fund the cost of building Habitat-NYC homes.

The following month, members of our Board of Directors joined family partner homeowners to transform the De Hostos Houses community center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

Q & A: Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood on Homeownership

Rev. Dr. Johnny Ray Youngblood is a nationally known faith leader whose remarkable legacy includes creating

Nehemiah homes, ensuring that hardwork-ing, low-income families have opportunities to purchase affordable homes. The subject of the bestseller, Upon This Rock: The Miracles of a Black Church, by Samuel G. Freedman, Rev. Youngblood recently and enthusiastically joined Habitat-NYC’s Board of Directors.

Habitat-NYC: Describe the transformation-al power of homeownership in low-income communities.

Rev. Youngblood: Facing the fact that race and economics are inseparable concomitants in

America, homeownership helps one to believe that the American Dream and justice, indeed, are for all, facing the fact that “low-income” and “affordable” are, in and of themselves, terms that vary in their definition.

Homeownership causes one to feel included rather than excluded; homeownership fuels hope; homeownership gives one a sense of achieving, not arriving, but a definite “foot up;” homeownership gives one something to show for their time, sweat and prayers; homeowner-ship gives one stability, and more so than edu-cation, provides a sense of self-determination.

Habitat-NYC: What inspired you to create the Nehemiah project, which has built thousands of single-family homes in East Brooklyn, the South Bronx and other devastated neighborhoods around the country?

Rev. Youngblood: The inspiration for Nehemiah was the cry from the com-munity for afford-able homes. Rent was, for too many, a futile engagement;

nothing to show but cancelled checks and no walls to place them on, even as trophies. More so, an exceptional amount of attention was focused on the poorest of the poor. The times were being characterized by the disappearing of the middle class, so we built in order to close the breach between the poorest of the poor and the richest of the rich by stabilizing the middle class.

Also, might I add, the scriptures on which we stand as believers gave us grounds for the rebuilding of our cities from the bottom up and not just the top down. Nehemiah was a housing project that was community-owned and community-led.

Habitat-NYC: What led you to lend your passion and energies to Habitat-NYC?

Rev. Youngblood: My effort to retire from the congregation and community where I had served 35-plus years landed me in another section of the city, in another congregation where Nehemiah was not necessarily a good fit. Habitat-NYC was open and honorable solicitors of my participation, so I am learning and anxious to serve the cause of homeownership through Habitat-NYC.

Board Member Neal Bader

Habitat-NYC E.D. Josh LockwoodValentine’s Day Paint-a-Thon Valentine’s Day volunteers at Riis Houses Valentine’s Day couple

Valentine’s Day volunteer

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4 w w w . h a b i t a t n y c . o r gFounded by Millard and Linda Fuller in 1976, Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization that welcomes people of all beliefs to join in its mission.

If it takes a village to build an affordable home – then it might take a whole borough to create and populate 100 new, affordable

condominiums and co-ops in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Ocean Hill-Brownsville.

This partnership-focused approach guides Habitat-NYC’s recent effort to strengthen collaborations with individuals and institutions in Brooklyn as we embark on our newest initiative to build or renovate 100 homes in these neighborhoods.

With funding from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 and additional support from local individuals, corporations, faith groups and elected officials, Habitat-NYC is renovating stalled, vacant and abandoned condominium and co-op buildings.

This initiative — 100 Homes in Brooklyn — includes creating new, ground-up buildings for affordable homeownership in these

communities, which were among the hardest-hit by the recession and foreclosure crisis.

This is where our “Champions” come in. To ensure that eligible families learn about these opportunities, Habitat-NYC is convening faith and community leaders to help us identify prospective low-income homeowners.

Habitat-NYC Executive Director Josh Lockwood says, “We are providing more affordable homeownership opportunities to more families in need than ever before, presenting the exciting challenge of quickly finding many qualified family partner homebuyers. Fortunately, we have a network

of incredible supporters who are excited to work with us as ‘Champions.’”

To date, Habitat-NYC has enlisted 12 faith groups, 13 elected official offices and community boards, nine nonprofits and 25 individuals to launch this vital initiative.

These “Champions” have signed on, with promises to host Habitat-NYC homeownership workshops in their community, disseminate 100 Homes in Central Brooklyn marketing information and help identify qualified applicants.

If you or your organization want to become a Habitat-NYC Champion, contact Beverley Hoyte at 212-991-4000, ext. 313.

And if you know someone who might want to become a Habitat-NYC homeowner, encourage them to go to www.habitatnyc.org, and click on Own a Habitat Home. From the website, they can also subscribe to our blog, 100 Homes in Brooklyn, for updates.

Habitat-NYC Seeks Central Brooklyn ‘Champions’

Monroe Street Homes Return to Life

A Romanesque Revival building sits at 475 Monroe Street. One would expect this building to serve as warm, stately

homes for neighborhood families. Instead, the property has been vacant throughout this recession and the foreclosure crises that has afflicted Bedford-Stuyvesant.

But that is about to change. With the help of Habitat-NYC and thousands of our big-hearted volunteers, this building is being transformed into green, affordable condominiums for neighborhood families in need. 475 Monroe is the first acquisition/rehab project undertaken as part of Habitat-NYC’s “100 Homes in Central Brooklyn” initiative, funded in part by the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 (NSP2), which provides funds to stabilize high-foreclosure low-income neighborhoods.

When completed, this once-derelict building will become affordable condo homes for eight low-income families. Each unit will have three

bedrooms, access to a back yard – and a LEED green building rating.

It will be a welcome change on Monroe Street, says Devin Jamison, who lived down the block for most of her life. “This building has been an eyesore in the community.”

Devin remembers when 475 Monroe was a thriving building. Many of her friends grew up in its eight apartments, spending enjoyable days running in

The neighborhood remains friendly and tight-knit – strengthened by an active block association, Devin says.

The building at 475 Monroe Street was not so lucky, beginning to decline during the early years of the new millennium. After a narrow brush with tax foreclosure, longtime owners sold the building to a new owner, who resold it in 2007. Tenant complaints began to mount. Mold. Vermin.

Cracked plaster. Holes in the ceilings. Peeling lead paint. Broken windows and door locks. More than 100 violations rapidly piled up at the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development over a few short years.

“Toward the end, there was no heat or hot water,” Devin recalls. “Tenants left one-by-one, until the building was vacant.”

Life is starting to return to 475 Monroe. Habitat-NYC is gutting the interior, installing new electrical and plumbing lines and preparing for the first day of volunteer work. In early June, the building will be humming with volunteers and our future family partner homeowners.

By the end of 2011, a new crop of children will be running through 475 Monroe Street, enjoying block parties and growing up in a restored and healthy residence.

and out of each others homes and hosting block parties.

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Meet the St. John’s Neighbors

Jerry and Karen Pinckney are looking forward to meeting their new neighbors — all 12 families.

For the past three decades, they’ve lived

St. John’s Groundbreaking Is a Community Affair

Future residents, funders and representa-tives from the community, elected officials, and the City’s Department of Housing

Preservation and Development (HPD), joined Habitat-NYC earlier this year to break ground on a 12-unit affordable condominium project.

Rising on a once-blighted block in Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Brooklyn, the future St. John’s Residences drew praise from the neighborhood.

“It is always a beautiful day when you can walk along, look up and see the beauty of a new building that is built with love and determination, and gives one an opportunity to be a part of the American Dream — to own your own home,” said Hazel A. Younger, Chair of CB 16. “How sweet it is!”

next door to the now-vacant lot in Ocean Hill-Brownsville where our St. John’s homes are rising.

They remember when the lot housed large and vibrant apartment buildings, with retail on the ground floor. One of the stores sold strollers and cribs, where the Pickneys bought supplies when their two sons were babies.

In the ‘80s, times turned sour. The apartment buildings were abandoned and left to fester until the city finally razed them. For the next quarter-century, the site remained vacant. Brooklyn’s annual Labor Day Caribbean parade kicks off only a few blocks away, so the Pinckneys’ enterprising sons, “would clean out the lot and rent it for parking,” Karen recalls.

The boys are now grown and the Pinckneys are enjoying their first grandbaby. Meanwhile, the Ocean Hill-Brownsville neighborhood around them is beginning to enjoy a resurgence. The nearby Pitkin

Juliet Smith, a future Habitat-NYC Bed-Stuy homeowner, helps kick off St. John’s homes.

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The Pinckneys in front of their home, next door to 1812 St. John’s.

shopping district is pulsating with crowds and the majestic old Lowe’s Pitkin Theater is being renovated into a new charter school, retail and dining center.

Today, as John and Karen stand on their stoop and look across to the building where their grandmother lived, they recall the past glories of the community and look forward to its future. “I think this is fantastic,” she says.

In the ‘80s, ‘fake window’ decals adorned the vacant St. John’s building, later razed. The Pickney’s home is to the right.

Hazel Younger of CB16 Lee Olesky of TradewebBrooklyn Community Foundation’s Marilyn Gelber with Habitat E.D. Josh Lockwood

Board Chair Peter Knitzer with Juliet Smith

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Advocacy in Albany Opens Doors to Government

For college students, a weeklong Habitat

program in Albany opened the door —

literally — to political realities.

Habitat for Humanity of New York State

hosted its annual Advocacy in Albany week for

It’s taken an enormous amount of hard work to achieve the dream of homeownership, and Slawomir says he is grateful to Habitat-NYC for helping the couple clear the hurdles.

“It is hard to get a home by ourselves, on our income, says Slawomir. “In the beginning, I was afraid. But Habitat helps you through the process.”

Continued from page 1

Dream – a big accomplishment for a couple who emigrated here from Poland more than a decade ago. More important, their new Habitat-NYC home will transform the lives of this hardworking couple and their three daughters.

Currently, all five Karpinskis live cheek-to-jowl in a cramped, one-bedroom apartment. It features a dark, windowless kitchen, with barely enough room to move around, and a bathroom with moldy walls. Parents sleep in the living room, which also doubles as the dining room. The girls (Paula, 13, Marta, 11, and Agata, 9) squeeze into the single bedroom.

“Everything is very tough. The kids need space for their schoolwork; homework is hard and they can’t concentrate. It’s hard to move around in our apartment,” Dorota says.

Slawomir adds, “The girls are excited, and everything will change for the better when we move.”

The family’s Habitat-NYC home includes three sunny bedrooms and enough room to spread out. “Kids need space to develop,” Dorota says. “Now they do everything in one room. In our new home, our daughters will have a place to sleep, to eat, to do homework and watch TV.”

The Karpinskis believe their new home will help the girls fulfill their ambitions. Paula hopes to become a veterinarian; Marta loves to draw and aspires to be an artist; and Marta wants to be a teacher.

In addition to contributing sweat equity to help build their home, Slawomir is an electrical contractor working with the city’s School Construction Authority. Prior to this, he worked with a clean-up crew at Ground Zero. Dorota, who was trained as a pediatric nurse in Poland, is in college, studying to become a medical assistant.

Karpinski Family

Slawomir and Dorota Karpinski

18 Habitat campus chapter members

from Siena College and Ithaca College. In

addition to learning about government,

students urged Gov. Cuomo and state

legislators to support rent reform

measures.

On lobby day — Tuesday, March 15

— students were joined by a busload of

faith leaders from Habitat-NYC’s School

for Faith, Action and Impact, who came

to meet with their elected officials and

to “testify” to the moral importance of

affordable housing.

That morning,

students erected an

eight-foot door in

the Empire State

Concourse, with the

message: “Don’t Close

the Door on Affordable

Housing. Help Build

a NY Everyone Can

Afford.”

Hundreds of

passersby signed the

door, and at the end of the day, students and faith

advocates together carried it into the Capitol to

deliver it to Gov. Cuomo — but the door was

not permitted past security.

Two days later, after many negotiations with

security officials, the door was delivered to Gov.

Cuomo’s office. Rent protections, however,

remain an open issue, and Habitat-NYC’s

advocates are continuing to press for legislation

that protects low-income renters.

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