Bishop McConnell will hold a blessing for a Sharpsburg Habitat house, sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH, PA (March 13, 2013) - On Saturday, a ceremony at a Sharpsburg Habitat house will celebrate a renewed partnership between Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh and the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh, led by its new bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dorsey McConnell.

This is the second time the Episcopal Diocese is sponsoring a Faith Build with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh in Sharpsburg. The partner family selected for this house is the third refugee immigrant family Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh has partnered with. The diocese also sponsored a Faith Build in Sharpsburg in 2010 for a Somali immigrant family.

The family moving into this house is an immigrant family from a refugee camp in Tanzania. Originally from Burundi, the father and mother were displaced by Civil War in 1972, forcing them into the refugee camp where their five children were born. The family now lives in an overcrowded apartment located in Northview Heights, a public housing project known for incidents of violence. Although both parents work, language and cultural barriers limit their access to living-wage jobs, making it a challenge to provide for their family. By partnering with Habitat, the family hopes to fulfill their dream of owning a home that can be passed down to their children and the generations to come. The father, Issa, works at Omni William Penn Hotel and the mother, Beuline, works at Giant Eagle. The family will pay a mortgage to Habitat between $450-550 for a 5-bedroom house.

 

Saturday's service will mark the official launch of this year's Faith Build. Bishop McConnell will
meet the family and bless the house, the renovation work, and the many volunteers
undertaking it. More than 15 congregations from across the Episcopal Diocese are joining this
Faith Build. In addition to teams providing the labor, the diocese and its participating parishes
have committed $30,000 toward the project.

The public is invited to attend this event. A tour will be given after the blessing to show the
work in progress and to learn what the final renovation will look like. The projected move-in for
the family is late spring/early summer. 

Saturday workdays still open are as follows:  March 30, April 6, April 27, May 18 and 25, June 1, 15, 29 (if needed).  There is a limit of 12 in a group, and when you make your contact with Suzanne DeWalt (sdewalt@verizon.net) be as specific as possible and give a second and third choice in case what you desire has already been taken.

We hope you are still considering a financial contribution with your outreach committees and vestries. We have received $21,000 in pledges toward our $30,000 goal, so we are getting there!  We hope for !00% participation from our parishes, so every gift, no matter the size, is important to us.

Copies of the commitment form are available online by clicking here.  Please return to Nancy Lapp, 4625 Fifth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, fax to her attention at 412 363-3260, or email, nlapp@pts.edu.

Our grand event will be the blessing of the house by Bishop McConnell on March 16th at 9:30 a.m. All are invited for tours of the house, to meet the family who will occupy it, and to participate in the blessing of our work. The address of the house in Sharpsburg is 221 Clifton Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15215. See http://goo.gl/maps/iEmLY for a map.