COVID-19 Pandemic

Dear Habitat Community,

A new year has arrived, but Covid-19 is still very much here. We have, adhering to local, state and our own stringent safety protocols, continued to build with small groups of regular skilled volunteers. These volunteers commit to building weekly and have been able to make great progress on our construction sites in Shutesbury and Northampton. See our updated Covid-19 work policies for subcontractors, volunteers working inside and volunteers working outside.

We are extremely grateful not only for these very visible construction volunteers, but for the dedicated behind-the-scenes committee volunteers who have been keeping the work going of family selection, family support, finance, site selection and pre-construction planning. Please talk with our volunteer coordinator Lindsay if you have interest in committee work – all committees are meeting via zoom.

The office staff continues to adapt to working primarily from home. We have upgraded some of our technology to be able to receive calls while away from the office and send encrypted emails where necessary. We are seeking funding to support staff time for continuing to monitor and upgrade systems and communications as we shift more of our work online. If you want to support this transition please let us know.

We miss you. We miss big groups of volunteers on the construction site. We miss getting together with committees in person. We miss in person celebrations with new homeowners. But we are grateful that the work continues. That we are finding new ways to build homes together. To take care of one another. The challenges we face in our work and lives every day – institutionalized poverty, global pandemic, white supremacy – are not small. But the magnitude of the problems we face as a society mean it is even more important that we take whatever steps we can today to make change. So, pick up that hammer or make that phone call or say hello via zoom. We’ve got work to do.

Megan McDonough, Executive Director

Dear Habitat Community,

In light of recent events, I am moved today to address the issues of inequity and injustice that are making headlines even as we grapple with a global pandemic. Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity stands unequivocally against police violence and vigilantism, including the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor [and countless more].

We are all called upon to seek justice and care for one another in these unsettled times.  People of color have been systematically denied access to the strength, stability and self-reliance of homeownership in America and it is time for that to change.  Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is part of a long tradition of caring for our neighbors but there is still more work to do.

Let us bring our best selves forward as we do the hard work of building a new world based on care, compassion and respect.  Let us reach out to our neighbors and affirm their right to safety and security.  Let us be humble in this work and listen to others.

As we face the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are offered an unexpected opportunity for creating change.  As Arundhati Roy recently said, “Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next” (source).

You may be wondering if swinging a hammer is one of the things you can do to help build the new world you want to see.  During the current phase of re-opening, Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity has adopted outdoor work safety guidelines for a small group of regular weekly volunteers to begin construction again.  However, for their safety and yours, we are not opening up volunteer opportunities to the general community at this time.  Our office will remain closed to the public for at least phase 1 and 2 of the Massachusetts re-opening plan. Our construction update:

• Inside the home on lot #2 Glendale Rd contractors are busy with finish work tasks to get the homeowners in this summer.
• Walls will be raised in June on lot #1 Glendale by regular volunteers – stay tuned for an online celebration and video of this important step.
• A shed for storage is being built in Shutesbury by regular volunteers to prepare for a future wall raising on the main house.

Please be in touch with your ideas and your support.

Megan McDonough, Executive Director

“For centuries, structural racism in the U.S. housing system has contributed to stark and persistent racial disparities in wealth and financial well-being, especially between Black and white households. In fact, these differences are so entrenched that if current trends continue, it could take more than 200 years for the average Black family to accumulate the same amount of wealth as its white counterparts.²

While homeownership and affordable housing are not a panacea for eliminating entrenched racial inequality, lawmakers must make amends for past and present harms by enacting new laws designed to expand access to prosperity for all Americans.”

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/reports/2019/08/07/472617/systemic-inequality-displacement-exclusion-segregation/

“The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” – Marcel Proust

Every day during this pandemic we at Habitat (and all of you in your worlds) are modifying what we do and how we do it. The work of Habitat’s volunteers, staff and supporters has always been characterized by ingenuity and never have we seen that more clearly demonstrated than this spring.

The behind the scenes work necessary – budgeting, design, permitting, bidding out professional services to keep construction projects moving forward has continued. Construction coordinator Amanda Hanley, in consultation with others on our Build Team and executive staff, have created policies and procedures in compliance with shifting state and local regulations for the very limited and heavily restricted work continuing at Habitat worksites. Other staff are working to re-envision how we engage the Habitat community and raise much needed financial support.
Last week I had the bittersweet pleasure of calling an applicant for the house to be built in Shutesbury to let them know they had been selected in the lottery. Months of work by the applicants and family selection committee went into the selection and the applicant was thrilled. They were also understanding that the timeline for construction had become uncertain like many things these days, but the trust in Habitat to build them a home was still there.

THANK YOU – to every member of the Habitat community, for your clear vision as together we discover what it means to inhabit this new land. Please see the list below for Habitat updates, connections to resources you may need and ways you can help.

Megan McDonough, Executive Director

Dear Habitat Community,

I’m writing this from my home.  What a great privilege to have a home to go to in a time of crisis.  To find my strength, stability and self-reliance here with my family and community.  These are not easy times as we navigate decisions we could never have expected to make, dabble in epidemiology and learn new phrases like “flatten the curve” and “social distancing”.

With colleges, libraries and many social institutions closing – daily life is changing for the time being.  But with change comes opportunity for us to be our best selves.  The ones who care for our neighbors and do things for the greater good.  I’ve seen you do it.  It’s why I love the Habitat community – giving selflessly of time, talent and treasure so that others can have the security of home in their lives.

We will post here on this page updates on how Pioneer Valley Habitat for Humanity is dealing with the specific logistics of living through a pandemic.  We will consult guidance from Habitat for Humanity International, the CDC, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and other experts to make sound decisions about our operations.  Over time we expect to adjust as new information is known, thank you for understanding.

With love,

Megan McDonough, Executive Director