Habitat CFC 2023 Annual Gala Raises Funds to Support the Build of the Eleventh and Twelfth Affordable Homes on a Large Chopsey Hill Road Property in Bridgeport, CT

BRIDGEPORT, CT – Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County announces that it successfully raised funds during its Annual Gala Masquerade Ball to support the build of two new affordable homes at 427 Chopsey Hill Road in Bridgeport, CT. The two affordable homes will be constructed on the same property as the ten homes recently funded by a $2 million Congressionally Directed Spending grant that was nominated by Senator Blumenthal and Senator Murphy and awarded to Habitat CFC on March 20, 2023.

The night of celebration was attended by 222 guests and included live music by Motown Band Le’ Mixx, a night of dinner and dancing, a silent auction, and a live auction. Future Habitat homeowner Candice Stanford shared her personal story, the excitement of becoming a homeowner, and explained that her motivation to follow through with the home buying process has been the promise of a bright future for her daughter made possible through Habitat homeownership.

Candice stated, “Having my daughter in a home that is ours would just give us the stability I never had, that she never had. We won’t have to move from place to place anymore, no more rent being raised every month — it will just be us in a place that is our true home!”

Before seeking funds to build homes for the Chopsey Hill Road property, Habitat CFC first successfully fundraised $1 million dollars to purchase the 2.27 acres as well as to support the construction of road infrastructure. The funding was raised through an exciting matching grant opportunity provided by long-time Habitat CFC donors and visionaries George and Carol Bauer. The Bauer Foundation doubled the impact of $500,000 in donations to Habitat CFC which brought the funds raised for acquisition and infrastructure to a total of $1 million dollars.

Carolyn Vermont, CEO of Habitat CFC stated, “We are grateful that we have gained swift support from our Federal, State, and local delegation for our plans to build new affordable homes on Chopsey Hill Road. We feel equally blessed that we had many long-time and first-time donors meet the opportunity to have their contributions matched by George and Carol Bauer which allowed us to acquire the land and begin this exciting journey in the first place. In addition to all of this early support, our annual gala was a great success with many generous donations that will fund the future of our work and its transformational impact on the lives of low-income, hardworking, and deserving families in our community.”

Next steps for the Chopsey Hill Road property will include raising funds to support the build of two more homes to bring the total to fourteen new, affordable homes to be constructed by 2025. For additional progress updates on this property and other news from Habitat CFC, follow us on social media or visit habitatcfc.org.

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