This morning at 10 a.m. the City of Troy held a lottery in which eight qualified families were seeking to have their name drawn out of basket. The prize was a brand new home.
You may recall that in July the City began constructing six new homes on Project Road with the intent of selling these homes to low to moderate-income residents as part of our Troy Homes initiative. Those homes are now just about complete, and today we had the opportunity to choose who would live there.
As I said earlier today, it was an old-fashioned, names in a basket, pull ‘em out lottery.
Here are the winners, and the homes they chose:
Robert Morrissey- 78 Project Road (Ranch Style Modular Home)
Tarig Abdu- 80 Project Road (Cape Cod Style Modular Home)
Tonja Owens- 82 Project Road (Ranch Style Modular Home)
Christina Parnell- 84 Project Road (Ranch Style Modular Home)
Dianne Kilkenny 86 Project Road (Cape Cod Style Modular Home)
Everyone who won the right to own their home is a current resident of Troy. We expect them to be moved in by Thanksgiving, and able to have friends and family over during the holidays. It really is a dream come true not only for them and their families, but the City as well.
As each name was pulled out of the basket, every person had a different reaction. Some cried, some laughed, some just pumped a fist. It was a wonderful sight. Here is a picture as the first name was read. It was Tonja, who is in the back of the room.
After all the names were read, the winners had the right to each choose their new home. I can only imagine the excitement they were feeling. Here is Dianne, Christina, and Tonja looking at the homes with Tim Mattice.
Tonja did a wonderful job dealing with the media.
Smile, you just won a new home!
Everyone who won today went through a tough screening process to make sure that their home ownership will be successful. Each person will purchase their new homes for reduced rates, manageable for their individual income levels. This program we have introduced is tangible. It gets results. And it spends federal money where it is meant to be spent, on the people of Troy. It really is the definition of progress.
Now is not the time to rest on our laurels however, we are already planning for Phase II of the project, set to begin next year.
Any questions, you know where to reach me info@harry4troy.com
Harry
