NORTHBOROUGH, Mass. - Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester has been working on a new project in Northborough with a long history behind it - an old home will soon help a local family.

What You Need To Know

 
  • A home in Northborough built by Habitat for Humanity has been sold back to the organization to help low-income families own a home

  • Since 1999, a woman had lived there raising her daughter, and when she recently passed away, her daughter decided to sell it back to Habitat for Humanity

  • Lawmakers and housing experts said with Massachusetts having less space to build new homes, refurbishing old properties has become important

  • Habitat for Humanity families volunteer time on the properties before moving in 

Refurbishing existing property has become important as open space in Massachusetts to build new homes becomes harder to find. Debbie Maruca Hoak, executive director of Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester, said this home in particular on Boundary Street has roots within the organization, and its former family is paying it forward.

“Her grown daughter reached out to Habitat and told us that she remembers building this house with her mom. She was a single mom and she was working two to three jobs at the time they got this house,” Maruca Hoak said.

The woman passed away recently, and although the mortgage on the home had been paid off, her daughter deciding what to do with the house turned back to Habitat for Humanity, where the home’s story began all those years ago.

“She said she knew that she would not have been able to have the life she had if it weren’t for Habitat or this home, so she wanted to do that,” Maruca Hoak said. “She wanted another family to be able to have a chance to live like that.”

Gov. Maura Healey’s recently-signed Affordable Homes Act will put more than $5 billion towards building more housing in the state, but State Rep. Jack Lewis, who was helping at Thursday’s build with his father, said projects like this are important as well.

“This is where Habitat for Humanity and other organizations play an essential role by rehabbing this home and then making it available to folks who otherwise maybe wouldn't be approved for a house like this,” Rep. Lewis said. “They work with Habitat to make sure that they meet the expectations there. Their income meets the levels that are required, that they're gainfully employed and will likely continue to be employed to pay their mortgage.”

Central Mass Housing Alliance’s executive director Leah Bradley said while the Affordable Homes Act won’t fix the state’s housing crisis, it could help usher in other regulatory changes to speed up production.

“What's really great about the Affordable Homes Act is it also targets folks that are at multiple income levels, folks that are at the lowest income, middle income really to help to build the housing that we need,” Bradley said. “And we know that we need to build more housing with the vacancy rates where they’re at right now.”

Partner families with Habitat for Humanity put in several hundred hours of work on their homes before moving in, and over time, they pay off the mortgage based on their income.