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The Marsh Family is excited to make their dream of homeownership a reality

Habitat for Humanity Detroit is proud to welcome The Marsh family to its list of homeowners in the Morningside community.  This home dedication will take place on Wednesday, September 28th at 4 pm at 4735 Maryland, Detroit, MI 48224.

“After a long, exciting, and life-changing journey, the Marsh family is finally ready to move into their new home,” says Stephanie Osterland, Habitat Detroit’s Executive Director.  “We want to invite the Morningside community to welcome them and come help them celebrate.”

Jessica Marsh began her homeownership journey while living with her mother and realizing she wanted to give her children, 14-year-old Amiyah and 1-year-old Noah, a place to call their own.

“I am so happy that Amiyah will have a space to just be a teenager,” says Marsh.  “I am excited to embark on this new journey and to offer the stability of their own home to my children”.

While Jessica acknowledges that patience is necessary to complete the Habitat Detroit homeownership program’s long process, but the financial guidance and support provided by the team as well as a new home, is all worth the wait.

“My family and I will forever be grateful for all of the time everyone has put in to make our dream of homeownership a reality,” Marsh said.  “Thank you to the sponsors, volunteers, and the entire HFHD staff for your help and dedication.”

The Habitat Detroit Homeownership program was created to be a vehicle to building wealth and assets, which in turn become instruments for opportunities for the next generation of Detroit families.

“Habitat Detroit is proud to celebrate their home dedication and offer these opportunities to families like The Marshes,” says Osterland.

As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, Habitat for Humanity Detroit is proud to have partnered with Merck and the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA) to build a home with asthma-healthy features for a low-income family affected by the disease. The Build Smart Breathe Easier program was facilitated by Habitat for Humanity International, which helped the pharmaceutical company and advocacy organization choose four cities around the nation for the building of a new house.

Asthma statistics in the Detroit area are startling and greatly influenced the decision to build in Detroit. For instance:

• In Detroit, recent asthma hospitalization rates for African Americans are more than two times higher than those for Whites.
• In Detroit alone, 13.7 percent of adults suffer from asthma, which is a 50 percent higher rate than the state of Michigan as a whole.
• The rate of asthma hospitalizations for Detroit children is 50 percent higher than that of Detroit adults.

The Habitat Detroit home was completed in July and was designed to reduce a variety of asthma triggers, which can include mold, dust mites and strong fumes or odors. Habitat Detroit incorporated asthma-healthy techniques, materials and systems into the building process based on principles from AAFA’s asthma & allergy friendly® Certification Program.

Click here to read more about this initiative from BLAC Detroit Magazine

Click here to learn more about HEAL Asthma.