Habitat and Eastside Coalition Dedicate a New Home

By John Nolan

Home is the center of a family's life. Thanks to Habitat for Humanity, the possibility of home ownership has just arrived for two families.

The families headed by Shelisa Gilmore and Vera Suggs joined with Habitat's Cincinnati leadership, our Eastside Coalition of Churches and others on Sunday to dedicate the house on Ryland Avenue in Cincinnati's Bond Hill neighborhood on Sunday, July 18. The families will be immediate neighbors in the two-story residence, separated by a firewall down the middle.

Their joy was obvious. Shelisa and Vera spoke at the ceremony. Ed Lee, Habitat Cincinnati's president and chief executive officer (and a former St. Barnabas senior warden), led the celebration.

Also on hand was Bette Griffith, widow of former Cincinnati homebuilder Alan Griffith. The new duplex was built in honor of Alan Griffith, who led Habitat home construction projects in the Cincinnati area for decades, prior to his death in 2020 at age 87.

Thanks to all of you who contributed labor, or donated money, to Habitat to help make this new home possible. Our volunteers from St. Barnabas and the Eastside Coalition will soon be moving on to join another Habitat build in progress.

Stay tuned for details. If you have interest in taking part, please contact John Nolan at (513) 263-0399 or newserjohn@aol.com.