Building Homes and Hope

Since 1992, thanks to volunteer labor and financial support from individuals, businesses, community groups, faith-based organizations, and foundations, empowerment through homeownership has become a reality for 49 hard working families.

Current Building Sites

Construction on 31 Clay Street, Easton

Milestone on Clay is Habitat Choptank's first multi-unit development.  When completed, the project will include 6 low income Habitat homes and 4 moderate income homes.  The project is a non-profit joint venture with Elm Street Development for which Habitat Choptank serves as the contractor and provides all of the labor.

Milestone on Clay Street Photo Album

Created by Thursday crew volunteer Neil Armstrong.

Construction at 210 Brooks Lane, St. Michaels

The site of the St. Michaels Faith Build, a partnership between Habitat Choptank and three St. Michaels churches - Christ Church-St. Michael's Parish, St. Lukes United Methodist, and Union United Methodist - to build a LEED-certified single family home for a local working family. The churches will provide much of the volunteer labor and are raising funds to cover the $75,000 construction costs.  Habitat Choptank will purchase the lot and provide overall construction supervision. 

To make a donation to this project, send your check or money order to Habitat Choptank at P.O. Box 2366, Easton, MD  21601 (put SMFB in the memo), or give online (be sure to designate your gift to SMFB).

Recently Completed at 504 Edgewood Avenue in Cambridge

This single family home is Habitat Choptank's first LEED-certified project.  LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification represents the hightest standards in sustainable building. 

Click here to see pictures from the Lake family's home dedication celebration.

Future Construction Sites

• 703 Wright Street, Cambridge - beginning September 2010

• Port Street, Easton
• Wells Street, Cambridge
• Chester Park in St. Michaels
• 510 Edgewood Avenue, Cambridge
• High Street, Cambridge
• 35 and 36 Locust Street in Easton
• Goodwill Avenue, Cambridge

Completed Habitat Home Sites

The 49 homes constructed to date have been sold to Habitat home owners in Cambridge, Easton, St. Michaels, Bellevue, Unionville, Royal Oak, and Cordova at no profit with interest-free mortgages.

Land acquisition and site selection continue to be a top priority for our affiliate.  If you or someone you know, has land they wish to sell or donate, please email us or call 410-476-3204.

The 'Greening' of the Habitat Mission

Habitat Choptank made a commitment to go green in its 2008 strategic plan with the goal of reducing Habitat’s impact on the environment and reducing long-term operation costs to Habitat’s low-income homeowners.  Initially, the focus was on designing a five-year plan for integrating sustainable building practices into the organization and its construction practices.  However, after research on cost benefits and with the skilled leadership of members of the Building Committee and its Green Building Sub-Committee, Habitat Choptank has already committed to using sustainable building practices in all of the homes going forward. 

With the May 2009 ‘green-breaking’ at 504 Edgewood Avenue in Cambridge, Habitat Choptank marked the start of its inaugural LEED-certified home. LEED – which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – is a rigorous certification system of the United States Green Building Council that measures how well a building saves energy and water, reduces carbon dioxide emissions, improves indoor environmental quality and uses resources responsibly.  The second LEED home is now underway at 210 Brooks Lane in St. Michaels.

A Lesson in Sustainable Building

Volunteers working at Edgewood Avenue install the Insulating Concrete. ICFs are rigid plastic foam forms that hold concrete in place during curing and remain in place afterwards to serve as thermal insulation for concrete walls. The foam sections (interior image on the right) are lightweight and result in energy-efficient, durable construction.

With the walls braced, volunteers begin working the concrete as the foundation is poured at 504 Edgewood Avenue. 

A tired volunteer crew - but the foundation is in and the day's work created only two bags of waste and a small pile of recycling.

Green/Sustainable Building PDFs

504 Edgewood Plat

LL5 Community Resources/Transit

MR 2 Environmentally Preferred Products

MR 3 Waste Management

WE 3 Indoor Water Use