By Alexander MacInnes

June 6, 2007

PATERSON - Joevornia Tisdale lives with her three adolescent children in her mother's 12th Avenue three-bedroom apartment. 

It was time for Tisdale, an office manager for a medical rehabilitation center in Paterson, and her children to move, but the home prices in Paterson trapped them.

"It was depressing to the point I'm thinking, 'I'm never going to own a home and always be confined to a small space, never going to have a yard' and this was the best I was going to get," Tisdale said Tuesday at the construction site of what will be her new home. 

Tisdale's story, in some form, could be repeated 199 times, as Paterson Habitat for Humanity celebrated providing 200 families a chance for affordable homeownership.  During more than 20 years the organization has invested more than $12 million in residential construction, providing homes for about 800 people. 

"She represents hardworking families who would never get ahead unless they get a chance of homeownership from Habitat," said Barbara Dunn, executive director of Paterson Habitat for Humanity. 

Each of the two-family structure's three-bedroom units will probably sell for $170,000, Dunn said.  Tisdale said similar units she looked at started about $265,000.  To become eligible, Tisdale had to invest 400 hours of "sweat equity" since last November - volunteering with Habitat on other projects.  She also had to prove that she could make payments on the home, with Habitat holding the no-interest mortgage. 

Tuesday's ceremony took place on Harrison Street, one of eight properties in the 4th and 5th wards that Habitat will start developing this summer.  Since its start, Habitat has built almost exclusively on the Northside, in the 1st Ward, but the limited available land there has pushed it to cross the river for new opportunities. 

"We've been building there for 20 years, working the city's free land," Dunn said of the Northside. 

Some of the group's first projects were in the 4th Ward, so it's kind of return home, Dunn added.  Habitat hopes to build 20 units a year starting next year. 

Tisdale, whose house is being built by volunteers from Langan Engineering of Elmwood Park, drives by the Harrison house everyday on her way to work, thinking of moving in with her children.  

"They're ecstatic," Tisdale said.  "They can't wait.  It's been a long time coming for us."

Reach Alexander MacInnes at 973-569-7166 or macinnes@northjersey.com.