Most of us have heard of Habitat for Humanity. The Habitat for Humanity program enables low- and moderate-income people to become homeowners.

There have been so many dedicated volunteers who have helped New Jersey residents’ dreams of homeownership come true by participating in building homes for these people.

But when I heard about this story I knew it was something special.

This summer, a Roxbury High School class had a ribbon-cutting for their project: a home in Landing for Samuel Tadesse and Senait Tesfaye, immigrants from Ethiopia who otherwise would not be able to own a home here.

Building the home was a high school assignment that is quite different from anything I was assigned back in high school.

The students were tasked with building this Morris County home and just finished up the project after many years.

The project began in 2016 when the school reached out to community members for any way to give their students education in skilled trades.

The building began in 2020, which included 35 students and teacher Frank Caccavale, who runs the school's design and fabrication course.

The team worked day and night to complete the house and from several interviews appears to have been quite an enlightening experience.

The team built the house, which is 3 beds 2 baths in the high school parking lot, and later transported it to the lot.

Tadesse and Tesfaye purchased it for $160,000, which is more affordable than the current apartment they live in that has only two bedrooms.

As we know, New Jersey is one of the most expensive states in America to live in, and this project was able to give this family an affordable place to live in a place that usually isn’t.

The most special part of all of this is that the family will send their children to the very school that helped them find a place to live. And who knows? Maybe the children will give back by participating in a project just like this someday.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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