Roof Donated for Habitat for Humanity Home in Riverside

Habitat for Humanity of Long Island, which is working on a number of new houses in Riverside with the Southampton Housing Authority to provide homeownership opportunities to local families, relies on volunteers and civic-minded companies to be generous with their time, money and expertise to ultimately make the homes it builds affordable.

The independent nonprofit affiliated with Habitat for Humanity International welcomed one of those companies — King Quality Construction, a Bohemia-based roofing, siding and window contractor — to a Vail Avenue build site on Tuesday, December 6, to donate the materials and labor to install the roof.

King Quality partnered with roofing manufacturer GAF to supply the asphalt architectural shingles, which make up one part of a seven-part roofing system that also includes underlayment, a rubber seal, a drip edge and a ridge vent.

Jeff Brett, the owner and CEO of King Quality, noted that the GAF roofing system comes with a 50-year warranty from the manufacturer and a 25-year stain guard.

“The homeowner will never have an issue with their roof,” Brett said.

This is King Quality’s third time working on a Habitat for Humanity project. Brett said his marketing company had met up with Lee Silberman, the CEO of Habitat Long Island, and brought King Quality and Habitat Long Island together.

“We’ve been blessed by doing very well on Long Island, and I want to start giving back even more,” Brett said. “And what’s better to give back than a new home to somebody?

“If you live and work on Long Island, the prices are so incredible that people can’t afford it,” he continued. “They’re working every day, working two jobs, and Habitat makes it easy and affordable for someone to get it. And on top of it, which I love the most about it, is they earn the house. They have to work on other people’s houses first, and then work on their own house.”

Recipients of a Habitat for Humanity house are required to put in 300 hours of “sweat equity” and complete community service and homeowner and financial training courses on top of signing a mortgage contract — though the monthly cost of the mortgage is arranged to be affordable with the recipients’ household income.

Habitat Long Island reported this Vail Avenue house will become the home of a family of four currently residing in an apartment that is inadequate for the needs of four people. Once it’s complete, their new home will be a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, one-story, 1,400-square-foot house with no basement.

Riverhead Building Supply is sponsoring the house, donating money and labor, and other individuals, businesses and organizations are also contributing.

“We’ve been getting a lot of volunteers,” said Emrah Hallaceli, the site supervisor for the project and an employee of Habitat Long Island since May. “We’ve been getting a lot of groups for this house.”

He noted that the future owner, Christina, who works as a social services examiner in Riverhead, and her three children are locals who know the neighborhood well, and she has been working at Habitat sites, putting in her sweat equity, on Saturdays.

“For the past 15 years, my family and I have been renters and the places we have lived never truly felt like home,” Christina, no last name given, said in a statement. “There are no words to describe the amount of peace I see in our future because of this opportunity. The fact that I get to help others in the process makes this blessing even more exciting. I look forward to learning new ways to give back to my community and meeting new people along the way.”