History

For some twenty years, several Habitat for Humanity affiliates have been at work building decent, affordable housing in the Baltimore—Annapolis region. Founded in 1982, Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity was concentrating its efforts on renovating dilapidated row homes in several Baltimore neighborhoods: Washington Village, East Baltimore, and Pen Lucy, to name a few.

By June 2009, Chesapeake Habitat had renovated some 149 houses, placing more than 411 low-income family members in homes of their own; 228 of which are children. During approximately the same time period, Arundel Habitat for Humanity was building new, affordable homes on single lots and in small groupings throughout Annapolis and the surrounding county.

Then in 2005, through a Memorandum of Understanding with Chesapeake Habitat, Arundel Habitat began to renovate housing in the Brooklyn and Curtis Bay neighborhoods of southeast Baltimore City. By June of 2009, Arundel Habitat had provided 110 families with decent, affordable housing—403 family members total of which 253 were children.

On July 1, following an intensive due diligence review, the Arundel and Chesapeake affiliates merged to form Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake—a leading provider of affordable housing in the Anne Arundel County-Baltimore region and a leading voice for community transformation.

As such, the new organization has the capacity to build more houses, to serve more families, and to paint a compelling portrait of unacceptable living conditions in our region—from vacant and dilapidated inner city housing to rural single-family dwellings without basic amenities such as indoor plumbing and electricity.

As Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake works to place homeownership within reach of the working poor, the organization proposes to mobilize a community committed to decent housing for all of our neighbors—as a matter of conscience and action.