Just in time to deliver some good news to residents for the holidays, the Town of North Hempstead held a housing lottery Thursday, Dec. 11 at the “Yes We Can” Community Center. The drawing, a collaboration between the town, Cornerstone Properties and Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc., was the next step in awarding residents affordable housing in New Cassel.
The selection process began two months ago, with hopeful residents entering for a shot at one of the new homes being built for an estimated move-in date sometime next year. Up for grabs are 11 townhomes and three single-family houses, along with one newly renovated, preexisting home available for purchase.
The lottery drew from a pool of 39 applicants whose applications passed an initial review. The deadline for this round of applications was Nov. 7. The event was to determine the order in which candidates would be examined in the next step, which includes other criteria like financial and credit checks. Reps for the town say this will likely be the last and only public portion of the process. The lottery was merely to determine the order in which candidates would have their eligibility reviewed, so no one was knocked out of the race completely, nor was anyone 100 percent guaranteed a house.
“Everybody should walk out of here feeling good about this,” stressed Joseph Sanseverino, Assistant Vice President of Long Island Housing Partnership, Inc.
Happy residents cheered and congratulated one another as their names were read aloud.
“I just knew it was supposed to happen for me. And it’s something we need here in the community, to have affordable housing,” said Tiffany Thompson of Westbury after hearing her name called. “To have ownership of something is very hard in Nassau County. It’s a big thing.”
Thompson said that before she learned of this housing lottery, she had never considered buying a home in Nassau County.
And the lottery is not just beneficial to residents already living in Westbury, some applicants hail from communities in Brooklyn and Elmont as well. Part of the goal is to attract new members to New Cassel to build up the neighborhood.
Many town officials attended the drawing along with members of the community and the development company. Executive Director for the Town of North Hempstead Community Development Agency Dermot Kelly, Town of North Hempstead Supervisor Judi Bosworth, District One Town Councilwoman Viviana Russell and Bishop Lionel Harvey of the Unified New Cassel Community Revitalization Corp. all made opening remarks about the impact the drawing would have on the community.
Reps from the town say they’ve held lotteries like this in the past and partnered with different agencies.
“Each name you pull out, you have the potential to make such an extraordinary difference in their life,” said Bosworth after the drawing. “It was so amazing having so many different government services and developers come together to make that possible.”
Harvey, who’s also a pastor at First Baptist Cathedral, has been a major part of the New Cassel revitalization project. He helps with community outreach and said his prayers were with all the entrants in last Thursday’s lottery.
“There’s a spirit of excitement in the room. Home ownership is something that is extremely important. We look at owning a home as part of the American dream,” Harvey said.
Bosworth noted that she was happy to see so many children in attendance at the drawing, a reminder of just who the housing was really benefiting.
“This is our future, and we’re helping to make that future a very happy and rosy one,” Bosworth added.
Sabrina Jones of Ronkonkoma was the second person to have her name called out at the drawing Thursday night. She expressed excitement about being chosen, as did Queens resident Michelle Person.
“I heard about it last minute and put my application in the day before the deadline. So I’m very surprised and excited to have come this far. We’ll see where it goes now,” Person said.
