The Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg chapter recently celebrated their first home in Williamsburg with a virtual dedication ceremony.
The new home is part of Habitat for Humanity’s First-Time Housing Program, an affordable program which helps low-income families buy and pay off their first home.
Colonial Sports and Abbitt Realty also sponsored the Williamsburg home.
“We are so excited to own our home finally,” said Abdul Ranzmall, a military contractor working in Afghanistan, who lives with his wife and three children. “We actually are looking forward to paying a mortgage instead of paying rent.”
The nonprofit has built hundreds of homes across the Peninsula primarily in Hampton, Newport News and James City County.
So why is this the first house built in Williamsburg?
LaToya Tyler, chief operating officer at the Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, said most of the land historically has been donated to the nonprofit by the localities and while the nonprofit can buy property at a fair price, the land available in Williamsburg was too expensive.
“So we just never had the opportunity to purchase land in the city of Williamsburg,” she said.” And even though we have been here and there finding affordable land in James City County.”
“So we had a generous donor come to us with this piece of land in the city of Williamsburg and told us she wanted to partner with Habitat,” she added.
Tyler said Habitat currently has no upcoming affordable housing projects in Williamsburg.
“We would love to have land donated to us in Williamsburg and James City County,” Tyler said. “Lots of people have family land and they don’t really consider donating it but they are also tired of paying the taxes on it.”
For those who can’t donate, Habitat could buy the property at a “fair price.”
“We are looking for affordable land because the need is there,” she said.
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