Habitat and Pottstown CARES Joining Forces

Pottstown High School and Hill School students clean up in the 600 block of Chestnut Street during a Pottstown CARES event in 2013.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery and Delaware Counties.

Pottstown CARES will strengthen its numbers this spring with the support of its newest member, Habitat for Humanity of Montgomery and Delaware Counties.

Habitat MontDelco is joining the civic engagement group as a member after years as a collaborator. Pottstown CARES’s mission is to develop and sustain a service ethic in Pottstown that will result in a collective sense of community pride.

Habitat’s membership in the group will provide more opportunities for residents, including students, to get involved, speak up and give back.

Already, students from Pottstown High School’s construction technology program are assisting with renovations on a Habitat house, and recently, Habitat MontDelco hosted a Home Repair Workshop to teach residents how to patch and repair drywall.

As it works with residents through its Neighborhood Revitatlization initiative, Habitat is also promoting The Hill School’s tool sharing program and is getting ideas for trash remediation from residents.

Pottstown CARES Day 2017 in North Hanover Street

“Pottstown is a community poised for change and there are many residents and community leaders who are already working hard to make it happen,” Habitat MontDelco CEO Marianne Lynch, said in a prepared statement.

“Our work with Pottstown CARES will help continue this momentum by ensuring that individuals gain skills, that we build capacity in the community and bring even more people together to create lasting change from within,” Lynch said.

The two organizations have partnered on community cleanups since 2016 when Habitat hosted its first Pottstown Rock the Block in conjuction with the now-annual Pottstown CARES community cleanup day. This year’s joint event is on Saturday, April 21.

“Inviting Habitat to join the Pottstown CARES effort seemed like a natural fit,” said Jason Coady, a CARES representative from The Hill School. “We’re interested in the same things— serving the community and leading by example as we encourage others in the community to serve too.”

Pottstown CARES Day 2014

Pottstown CARES (Community, Awareness, Responsibility, Empowerment, and Sustainability) was conceived in 2013 amongst the Pottstown School District, The Hill School, and the Borough as a collaborative project to “spruce up” a designated area in the core of Pottstown.

Montgomery County Community College, the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce, and Lowes joined the effort, and in 2016 a CARES Student Leadership Council was created to imagine and execute new student-driven projects.

The collaborative group of students from Hill, Pottstown High School, and Montgomery County Community College created and support a “Shop Tri-County” campaign; serve lunch to underserved Pottstown residents; represent CARES in hometown parades; and host “Welcome Home” concerts benefitting area homeless, among other endeavors.

Habitat constructs homes for affordable home ownership, preserves aging housing stock by completing critical home repairs, provides financial literacy and life skills classes, and revitalizes neighborhoods. For more information, call 610-278- 7710, email ehefner@habitatmontdelco.org, or visit www.habitatmontdelco.org.