Family receives new residence thanks to Habitat for Humanity
POTTSTOWN >> It’s true that there’s no place like home for the holidays.
And that is particularly true for one Pottstown resident after she purchased a home that she herself helped renovate.
On Dec. 15, Wendy Cangialosi, now of Walnut Street in Pottstown, received the keys to her new home after working with Habitat for Humanity to renovate a 100-year-old twin house that had remained vacant and uninhabitable for years.
“We re giving Wendy keys to her new home. She’s a new home buyer with Habitat for Humanity. She has worked really hard on this, putting in 200 hours of sweat equity, going through our financial empowerment class and she’s done an extra job of really working with neighborhood revitalization here in Pottstown to not only own a home here but improve the neighborhood as well,” said Marianne Lynch, CEO of Habitat for Humanity for Montgomery and Delaware counties.
The home on Walnut Street needed some serious work, according to Lynch. Before remodeling, the home had a caved-in roof toward the back that had to be torn off and rebuilt completely and volunteers had to reconfigure the entire second floor.
“This project is the perfect example of the transformation happening in Pottstown,” said Lynch. “Taking an uninhabited, neglected property and turning it into living proof of the possibilities in Pottstown is what we are striving to do.”
And Cangialosi had that in mind as well when she chose this home. After previously selling her home to pay for her Master’s degree and her daughter’s college tuition, Cangialosi said she picked Pottstown to purchase a home because of the potential she sees in it.
“I’ve been able to work with the Pottstown Action Committee and they have really shown me a lot of heart in Pottstown. I know that there are a lot of homeowners and business owners and citizens and neighbors in Pottstown who really care deeply for this town. They work hard at taking care of it,” said Cangialosi on why she chose Pottstown. “Pottstown is really diverse. There’s all different variations to Pottstown. It just has so much potential and I think it’s really on the verge of kind of becoming an upcoming place to live.”
After receiving her keys, Cangialosi invited volunteers, partners and other guests to come inside for a blessing of the home and to take a tour, showing off the brand new kitchen and an exposed brick wall in the front room
that she built herself.
“I feel really blessed to be a part of the process— to join the construction crew and volunteers and work on the house and help get it ready. And it’s ready. This is the day,” she said.
Habitat for Humanity partnered with Gensis Housing, Bank of America, DOW Chemical, the Borough of Pottstown and many others to remodel the home and make it available to Cangialosi through their Almost Home Program.
The program aims to help families across Delaware and Montgomery counties become financially stable. Potential buyers help to build their homes through 200 to 400 hours of “sweat equity” to purchase their home at a reduced price.
The Walnut Street home is the third home that the organization has restored in Pottstown and is the 84th home Habitat for Humanity has restored in Montgomery and Delaware counties.
“It’s been a life-changing experience. It’s a whole new opportunity for me to purposefully engage in life and community so I really look forward to it,” said Cangialosi. “It’s incredible. It’s like the best Christmas gift you could ever dream of.”