By Mike Andrelczyk, Communications & Volunteer Manager, Lancaster Lebanon Habitat for Humanity
A feature piece from our Summer 2026 issue of the Lancaster Thriving Publication.
How do you build a vibrant community?
Together. One home at a time.
On a sunny Thursday in April, volunteers from Kleen-Rite Corporation – a Columbia-based car wash equipment distribution business – constructed porch roofs, assembled window frames, and installed doorknobs at Lancaster Lebanon Habitat for Humanity’s five-home Linden Street Build in Columbia, which is one of a dozen homes Habitat has built (or is currently building) in the borough.
A palpable feeling of purpose and camaraderie was in the air. The work was especially meaningful to the Kleen-Rite volunteers, who were excited to build affordable homes in their own neighborhood.
“It’s such a fantastic experience to help create these five homes for people who are going to enjoy them and thrive in them in this wonderful community,” said Jamie, a Kleen-Rite volunteer.
To date, 118 volunteers, including Thaddeus Stevens students, State Senator James Malone and his team, members of local churches, civic groups and businesses, and dedicated individuals, have contributed 773 volunteer hours at Linden Street.
Habitat acquired the lot, located across from the Turkey Hill Experience, from Arlette Warren, who decided not to pursue her own plans to develop the site. Inspired by Habitat’s mission and its successful construction of four nearby homes on South 5th Street, Warren sold the lot and plans to Habitat for $175,000.
The five connected homes at the Linden Street Build were designed by Hammel Associates Architects, and the project was made possible by generous donations from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, the High Foundation, the Clark Associates Charitable Foundation, CNH Industrial Foundation, Bank of Bird-in-Hand, Northwest Charitable Foundation and others.
Habitat launched the project on May 1, 2025. On that day, four of the five future homeowners stood with ceremonial golden shovels and dug into the soil on the site of their future homes.
“It’s becoming real,” said Stephanie, a Habitat homebuyer.
Stephanie previously experienced a period of housing instability, during which she and her daughters lived in her car, on friends’ couches, and at Tenfold’s TLC shelter, before being accepted into Habitat’s first-time homebuyer program.
“I’m in the program, I’ve selected my house,” said Stephanie, a manager at a local Valvoline. “But to actually see (construction) start, it’s an overwhelming feeling of joy,”
Let’s pause here to address a couple of misconceptions about Habitat for Humanity.
1: The late former President Jimmy Carter didn’t found Habitat for Humanity.
However, Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn were dedicated volunteers, champions of the nonprofit’s mission, and played integral roles in Habitat’s success.
Habitat for Humanity was founded by Millard and Linda Fuller in 1976, and, for the past 50 years, the nonprofit (with affiliates in all 50 states and in 70 countries around the world) has helped more than 62 million people build better futures for themselves through access to affordable housing. Lancaster Lebanon Habitat for Humanity was founded 10 years later and has built 300 affordable homes, and created hundreds of first-time homebuyers, alongside thousands of volunteers.
2: Habitat for Humanity doesn’t give homes away for free.
Habitat for Humanity partners with lower-income families in need of a decent place to live. Families must demonstrate the ability to pay an affordable mortgage (no more than 30% of their monthly income), and a willingness to parter.
In lieu of a traditional down payment, Habitat families contribute “sweat equity,” into the program, which includes building their, or their fellow parter families’, future Habitat homes, working at the Lancaster Habitat ReStore, taking financial literacy and home maintenance classes, and students can contribute by earning A’s and B’s in school.
When 100 sweat equity hours are recorded, families select their future homes from available Habitat properties, and when their sweat equity requirement is completed, and their future home is ready, families officially settle on their home and move in.
But first comes a home dedication where friends, neighbors, Habitat staff, supporters, and the volunteers who worked alongside the family to help them achieve their dream of homeownership, come together to celebrate the family’s achievement.
For Habitat homebuyer partners like Stephanie, the opportunity to become a homeowner means everything.
“Saying it’s a blessing doesn’t even explain how I feel,” says Stephanie. “It’s a lot of emotions. So much joy.”
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