North Shore Women Head to Danvers to Build Some Affordable Housing

More than 70 women from around the North Shore grabbed their hammers and headed to Danvers on Saturday to kick off the sixth annual National Women Build Week. They built porches and roofs, installed cabinets, insulation, siding, hung interior doors and dug some footings.

Habitat for Humanity-North Shore, which is in the midst of a housing project at 26 Mill St. to construct a new duplex with two condos, hosted the local Women Build event at the construction site. You can find more pictures from Saturday here.

“We are so excited to participate in National Women Build Week,” says Don Preston, the president for the local Habitat chapter. “This is a great opportunity for women of all skill levels to come together to help a family in need.”

Habitat purchased the land from the Danvers Housing Authority for a $1 and received approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals last summer to construct the two affordable housing units (40B) on a grassy lot at the former Danversport School.

, which was converted years ago into public housing. The Housing Authority was limited to 12 units at the site, but had only created eight and was looking to expand.

The new homes will go to two low-income families selected through an application process with Habitat. Those families also work side-by-side with volunteers throughout the construction process. It's called "sweat equity."

Women Build Week is a nationwide event by Habitat for Humanity and sponsored through a partnership with Lowe's. It runs through May 12.

Lowe’s contributes more than $1.75 million to the national initiative and also conducts “How-To” clinics at local stores to teach women key construction skills.

For last year's Women Build event, Habitat invited female volunteers to join in the construction at an affordable housing project in downtown Peabody.

If you'd like to learn more about Habitat for Humanity-North Shore, check out the website.