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Over the next two years, students at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport will build a Habitat for Humanity home in the city following a groundbreaking ceremony Sept. 19.
To kick off the project, Penn College officials joined the Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity for the event at the site on 508 Fifth Ave. The property was donated to the organization by the school.
“This is such a win-win project,” said Bob Robinson, executive director of Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity. “Penn College students starting this fall will have the opportunity to build a home from start to finish. And, when completed, we will have another Habitat home providing the opportunity for a low-income family to own their very own home for the first time. We look forward to the success of this project and hope we can build more homes together in the future.”
Penn College building construction technology students began work at the site on Sept. 17 by completing the site layout. Next, students in heavy construction equipment technology majors will dig the foundation.
Earlier, Geoffrey M. Campbell, a recently retired assistant professor of architecture, involved students in a Fall 2022 architectural design class by tasking them to design energy-efficient homes for the site.
As a result, the solar-ready home is designed to be sustainably affordable for its future owners.
By the time it is completed in May 2026, the project will involve students from at least six Penn College programs.
Helping to lead the project are Andrew Hamelly, the local Habitat construction director, and a 2007 Penn College graduate with a bachelor’s degree in residential construction technology and management; and Garret L. Graff, an assistant professor of building construction technology who will coordinate on-site activity as construction supervisor on behalf of the school.
“We are so excited to begin this project,” said Ellyn A. Lester, Penn College’s assistant dean of construction and architectural technologies and its project manager for the build. “We’ve been working with Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity for more than two years to find a path forward that fulfilled both groups’ goals and programmatic requirements. There have been challenges along the way, but our faculty, administration and Penn College’s Board of Directors joined forces with Habitat’s board, and our county and city officials, to make this project a reality.”
New Dwelling is First of 11 Habitat Homes Planned
The property where it will be built is an empty lot that had been the site of a “nuisance bar,” as designated by the Lycoming County District Attorney’s Office. In 2015, it was purchased by the college and demolished.
Penn College’s board of directors approved the site’s donation to the local Habitat for Humanity in October 2023.
To move the project forward, county commissioners approved a grant for $100,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding for various construction materials, and the city of Williamsport is allowing use of an adjacent city-owned property for equipment and materials storage.
Habitat, too, is providing services and materials, as well as selecting a family and preparing them for homeownership.
Homeowners are chosen from applicant families earning less than 80 percent of the area median income. In addition to a mortgage no more than 30 percent of their annual income, local Habitat homeowners pay an average of $3,283 in real estate taxes each year.
“Ultimately, this project puts a city property back on the tax rolls, enables students to tap their newly acquired skills for a ‘real-world’ project, and provides a new home for a worthy family that meets Habitat’s eligibility criteria,” Penn College President Michael J. Reed said.
The Fifth Avenue home in Williamsport is among 11 dwellings the local Habitat for Humanity International affiliate plans to complete by December 2027, adding to the 40 already built in Lycoming County since 1990.
One-Time Habitat Home Resident Gives Back to Program
Katherine L. (Mertes) Rainey, a 2018 Penn College graduate with degrees in both residential construction technology and management, and building construction technology, used to live in one of those homes, built by Lycoming College students in 2003.
“I grew up in a Habitat house,” said Rainey, now a customer coordinator for Berks Homes and a part-time Penn College instructor. “I was young at the time, but I have some fond memories of visiting the job site.”
She recalled watching its progress when she went to the site with her mother, who made and delivered lunch for the student volunteers. Additionally, her father pitched in as a member of the construction crew.
Since earning her Penn College degrees, she has renewed her involvement with the organization as a volunteer, helping with a recent “women’s build” at a home on Scott Street and speaking at Habitat for Humanity events.
“I’ve just really wanted to give back to them for everything that they had given to me and my family back 20-plus years ago now,” Rainey explained. “If it weren’t for Habitat, I don’t know if my parents would have owned their own home. Seeing the construction from a different angle — all these people coming together to build my home — I just want to give back and help build homes for other families in need.”
Greater Lycoming Habitat for Humanity builds safe and affordable homes in partnership with families in need of a decent place to live. Habitat homebuyers help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage.
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