Habitat for Humanity dedicates its first home in Westhampton Beach

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Cathy Strand-O'Shea emotionally thanked the crowd of friends, family and volunteers during the dedication ceremony on Saturday, November 7 of Ms. Strand-O'Shea's new home, which was built by Habitat for Humanity.
Photos by Hallie D. Martin

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Avon Court in Westhampton Beach was lined with cars Saturday morning as friends, family and volunteers huddled inside a new house tucked away at the end of the street, all awaiting the arrival of Cathy Strand-O’Shea.

Ms. Strand-O’Shea was fashionably late. But when she arrived, she ran up the porch steps, through the white door wrapped with a red ribbon, and burst into the living room of her new home, which was built by volunteers with Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County over the past eight months. She was greeted with applause and hugs from the nearly 50 people who showed up for the dedication ceremony.

“I’m just so happy,” Ms. Strand-O’Shea said through tears. “This is the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”

Ms. Strand-O’Shea, a New York State Department of Transportation employee, was presented with the keys to her three-bedroom home on Saturday morning. Ms. Strand-O’Shea, who has three sons, will move in this week.

More than 200 volunteers helped build the 1,200-square-foot home on Avon Court, “from the wall-raising to painting,” according to Les Scheinfeld, the associate director of Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County. It is the first Habitat home built in Westhampton Beach.

Compared to the 136 other affordable homes that Habitat for Humanity has built in Suffolk County, the property on Avon Court took the longest time to actually develop. It took about five years to acquire the land and build the home, according to Dan Walker, the executive director of Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County. The organization had to build the road and had trouble getting Suffolk County Board of Health approval, he said.

“[This property] has the thickest file in our office,” Mr. Walker said at Saturday’s ceremony.

Construction on the home started in March. Volunteers who built the house, representatives of sponsors, and parishioners from the Eastport Bible Church, where Ms. Strand-O’Shea attends, were also at Saturday’s ceremony. She was presented with a Bible and a set of keys to her home.

“From one Habitat homeowner to another, welcome,” Walter Mackey, the construction site director, told Ms. Strand-O’Shea, handing her the keys. He lives in East Patchogue in a home built by Habitat for Humanity.

Ms. Strand-O’Shea accepted the keys, hugged her three boys close to her and said through tears, “This is the best thing that ever happened to us.”

People have to apply to live in a home built by Habitat for Humanity. It is a rigorous application process and one that includes interviews, credit checks, and employment and rental history checks, according to Mr. Scheinfeld.

The applicants must meet specific guidelines, too. They have to make between $40,000 and $60,000 annually, never owned a home before and be in need of safe, affordable housing. But most important, the applicant must understand the terms of the agreement, Mr. Scheinfeld said.

Ms. Strand-O’Shea applied at the end of last year and was “one of our typical applicants,” Mr. Scheinfeld said. She wanted the home so she could have a place for her three sons, Nicholas, 14, Thomas, 10 and Reilly, 3. They had been living at times with Ms. Strand-O’Shea’s mother in Hampton Bays for the past few years.

Once they are accepted, applicants must help build their houses and contribute at least 300 hours of volunteer time, called “sweat equity.” “The sweat equity is the down payment,” Mr. Scheinfeld explained. That time adds up to a couple of hours every Saturday for about year, he said.

Ms. Strand-O’Shea, who said she relied on baby-sitters to watch her sons while she volunteered, described the past year as an emotional roller coaster. “What a journey this has been,” she said at the ceremony. “This is life-changing.”

Ms. Strand-O’Shea never gave up hope that one day she would own the Westhampton Beach home, said Christine Flatley, director of family services at Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County.

“She just sparkled. She sparkled from day one,” Ms. Flatley said Saturday. “I never met someone who believed as strongly as this woman.”

Habitat for Humanity homes are built on donated lots and typically cost about $95,000 to complete. That cost turns into the applicant’s mortgage, which is eventually reduced with the help of grants. The applicant usually ends up taking out a $65,000 mortgage that must be paid back to Habitat for Humanity over 20 years and at zero percent interest, according to Mr. Scheinfeld.

“Habitat is not a hand-out, but a hand up,” he said.

Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk County builds homes from the Nassau County border east to the Shinnecock Canal. Most of the homes are clustered around the communities of Central Islip, Bellport, Mastic, Shirley and Bay Shore. The organization has five homes in the greater Westhampton area. Habitat for Humanity of Peconic builds affordable homes east of the Shinnecock Canal.