Old appliances go towards purchasing Habitat for Humanity houses

  • Published
  • By Ted Theopolos
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Appliances and other items from the Green Acres housing complex on area C of the base will go towards financing new homes for Habitat for Humanity. The project is currently in progress and demolition will begin soon.

Green Acres, base housing located just east of the base hospital, had its last tenant move out in May of this year. The housing complex was built in 1972 and consisted of 103 buildings that housed 206 families. With the recently constructed units, Prairies at Wright Field, base housing has over 1,600 units, and the old complex is not needed.

"The dwellings are scheduled to be demolished, as they are surplus to the housing requirements for Wright-Patt, said Terry Mathews, housing chief. "We have an ample number of units in privatized housing at The Prairies and The Woods, to support the needs of our military families."

Larry Stein, Dayton's Habitat for Humanity ReStore director, contacted Evans Landscaping Company, the sub-contractor to demolish the dwellings, to see if appliances and other items could be donated to the Dayton non-profit organization.

ReStore is a vital part of the Habitat mission that will generate revenue from the sale of appliances and other items from Greene Acres, to build more Habitat homes throughout Montgomery County, helping the overall mission of Habitat for Humanity which is to eliminate substandard housing.

"We can use stoves, refrigerators, fans, light figures, water heaters, furnaces, and even windows." said Larry Stein. "Most of the items are in great shape. Some items are only one to three years old. There could be enough items, if sold, to build two new Habitat houses."

"This works great for us and for the base and contractor," Stein continued. "We get the items for resale which means we can ask for less grant money and alleviate filling up local landfills."

Getting volunteers to help remove the items out of the dwellings is a challenge. "We need volunteers to help with getting items out of the housing units," said Stein. "To give you an example we have over 1,000 ceiling fans that we would like to remove."

Jennifer Dean, volunteer Services Coordinator for Habitat for Humanity, echoed Stein's challenge. "We have a lot of base organizations that help, but we need more to volunteer for this project."

On a cool Saturday morning one group from the base showed up to help with the project. Ten personnel from Air Force Research Laboratory Enterprise Business Systems volunteered to help. The AFRL/EBS Program Office develops the standard business system for AFRL-wide use.

"I'm proud to be involved with Habitat for Humanity because it is a source of hope to families in need," said Marie McIntosh. "It is a good feeling knowing that I participated in giving people hope and a future.

All of the EMB team that volunteered was glad to participate in the worthy cause.

"The EBS team had an opportunity to share a worthwhile experience, helping a good organization like Habitat for Humanity, which does great things for the people in need," said Doug Mazurek.

The same sentiments were said by Mike Bennett. "It was a pretty special feeling to work with an organization like Habitat for Humanity that does so many great things for people."