PresbyBuild is a  community build led by eleven Presbyterian churches of the Presbytery of Hudson River, joined as partners with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh to demonstrate Presbyterian mission in the inner city. The church congregations actively involved are:

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church, New Windsor
Calvary Presbyterian Church, Newburgh
Canterbury Presbyterian Church, Cornwall 
Cornwall Presbyterian Church, Cornwall-on-Hudson
First Highland Presbyterian Church, Highland 
First Marlboro Presbyterian Church, Marlboro 
First Presbyterian Church, Montgomery
First Presbyterian Church, Monroe
First Presbyterian Church of Washingtonville
The First Presbyterian Church in Goshen
The Union Presbyterian Church, Newburgh

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The Project and the Church / Presbytery Mission Statement
Our Vision is “nurturing Christian spirit, encouraging community, bridging differences.” Our Mission, as the Presbytery of Hudson River, is to support and equip our members and churches in Christian ministry within our communities, and to bear collective witness to God’s work among us regionally, nationally, and globally. 

Numbers of churches working together to raise the consciousness of the community to make poverty housing unacceptable will provide powerful advocacy for our mission. We have collectively come to the decision that we must do something about the problem of poverty housing in our community. By cutting across the racial, cultural, and religious boundaries in the community to work together in building a house, our congregations can experience great spiritual renewal. Lives are changed not only for the partner family strengthened both materially and by witnessing Christ’s love in volunteers and donors building on faith, but also for those volunteers and donors inspired by the tangible outcome of the project.

Methods / Work Plan

An increasing number of member churches have been meeting for over a year with a common goal of sponsoring a home to be built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity. The Presbyterian mission provides leadership for a larger project, that of building a row of houses and adjacent rehabs with the goal of turning around a neighborhood. 

The Habitat affiliate provides:

The building site and plans
A homeowner family screened for willingness to partner, ability to pay, and need
Construction supervision and direction
Legal work for closing and processing a mortgage
Guidance and resources to help the churches organize and promote the building 
project

The congregations agree to:

Pray for the ministry of Habitat
Provide the funds and/or in-kind contributions needed to build the house 
Provide volunteers to work on the project. 

Six row houses are to be built on Liberty Street, the first being the PresbyBuild house. The building site has been donated to Habitat, and is located adjacent to our very own Calvary Presbyterian Church. Several members of the PresbyBuild task force currently offer leadership to Habitat and are coordinating this project. Habitat, following established Fair Housing, needs-based criteria, has begun the identification and selection of families in need. 

Habitat is responsible for the recruitment of skilled trade labor for the technical parts of the building as required by local code. All of the lots were surveyed through donated professional service, and architectural plans have been developed that are appropriate for the Historic District. Excavation and foundation work began in November for five of the six houses. Floor trusses were installed in the first weeks of December, and all five decks are now down. Walls have been raised for the first floor of the PresbyBuild house, and preparations are beginning for the second house. Central Hudson has put in a new gas line running the full length of the project, and the sewer and water lines have been laid. Building continues despite snow and sub-zero weather, keeping PresbyBuild on course for completion in January of 2005. 

Habitat has completed eleven homes in the City of Newburgh. In addition to the Liberty Street Project, work is advanced on the twelfth and thirteenth houses undertaken since the affiliate formed four years ago. With your support, prayers, donations, and volunteer labor, Habitat can continue its mission of rebuilding this inner city neighborhood to create permanent change for not just one family, but for the entire community. Individual volunteers and groups are welcome. To schedule a work day, please contact the Habitat office at (845) 568-6035. For more information about Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh, you can also visit the website at www.habitat-greater-newburgh.org. 

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