Amherst College President Carolyn Martin at the Stanley Street Celebration
Nearly ten years ago an Amherst College undergraduate, James Patchett ‘02, approached the Amherst College President with a vision of a partnership between the college and PV Habitat. The college agreed to donate land to PV Habitat, students agreed to help build, a site on Stanley Street was selected, and the project was launched. At long last, on September 27th, a festive crowd gathered at the site to celebrate the partnership that resulted in four happy families in beautiful homes, who now constitute a vibrant community.
Three of the new homeowners were present: Kathy Perry, Ashlee Cancio-Bello, and Phyllis Keenan. They spoke movingly of their pleasure and gratitude at the fulfillment of their own dream of owning a home. (Janice Lamberg is a fourth homeowner who couldn’t be there and sent flowers and a lovely card of thanks.) Other speakers included Jim Brassord, Amherst College Director of Facilities, Biddy Martin, the College’s newly installed President, MJ Adams, Habitat’s Executive Director, and Sandy Belden, the President of the Habitat board. State Representative Ellen Story as well as representatives of the Town of Amherst were also present.
Speakers paid tribute to hard work by many volunteers--students and others--that went into the successful completion of the project. Mr. Brossard recalled a hectic 24-hour building session. Charlie Klem and Walt Kohler, who supervised the construction of all four houses, were singled out for special praise. The invaluable contributions of more than thirty members of the Valley business community were also cited for donating both materials and services; their names were listed in the program. The Town of Amherst contributed funds from the Community Preservation Act and helped in other ways. President Martin expressed the hope that the successful partnership between the College and PVHH can be continued into the future.
The Stanley Street project has achieved nationwide recognition as an example of imaginative design and construction. It was featured in the elegant illustrated book Power of Pro Bono (edited by John Cary), which describes forty examples of Design for the Common Good. It was also featured in a recent Exhibition of Sustainable Design held at the UMass Gallery. The homes are attractive as well as energy-efficient. They are light-filled. All four have solar panels on their roofs, and these provide a large portion of the electrical power for the household. In short, a great success story for the partnership between Amherst College and Pioneer Valley Habitat.
