As 2009 draws to a close, five new homes stand tall on Trayah Drive in Milton, Vermont.  The largest neighborhood built by Green Mountain Habitat for Humanity (GMHfH) to date brightens the area with its quaint front porches and tidy gabled roofs.  The dream of homeownership has now become a reality for five deserving families.

After years of planning, permitting, paying and praying, we finally began the project in June of 2008 the same day our permit was approved!  Eager to get started, we had our excavation equipment and building materials already ready to go that morning.  The faith and enthusiasm of our construction leaders, volunteers and families carried us through the next six months until our first family moved in right before Thanksgiving of 2008.

We achieved many milestones during the completion of this project.  GMHfH had the largest single group of corporate volunteers ever participate on a build.  More than 600 volunteers from GE Healthcare in South Burlington signed up to help make a difference in their community.  This was the first project completed by GMHfH that took advantage of large economy of scale to hold down building costs.

As 2009 began, we continued our strong pace with our end goal to finish the project in the fall of this year.  In October we will hold our final House Dedication Ceremony for this neighborhood and happily turn over the keys to two more Habitat Partner Families.  The collaboration and dedication of hundreds of businesses, donors and volunteers helped make this project such a remarkable success.

2010 offers a new challenge: constructing the greenest, most energy efficient homes Habitat has ever built in our state.  This project will require us to reach out to old friends and new supporters in Chittenden County to help us achieve our goal. We would welcome your interest and support in any form you wish to give it.  Please consider giving money, materials, or your time to help rid Chittenden County of poverty housing.