St. Theresa Place
On August 10, 2020, Habitat for Humanity of Evansville broke ground on St. Theresa Place, a 14-home, single-family Habitat subdivision located on the city’s north side in the Diamond-Stringtown Neighborhood. Bishop Joseph Siegel, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke, St. Theresa Place Advisory Council members, Habitat for Humanity supporters and other community leaders attended the blessing of the property and ceremonial groundbreaking for St. Theresa Place.
For over 70 years St. Theresa Catholic Parish was a vibrant center of faithful worship and quality education where generations of north side residents raised their families and worked together to build a community and achieve common goals. That legacy of faith and hope will live on in St. Theresa Place, a 14-home Habitat for Humanity subdivision to be built on the east side of the former St. Theresa campus. The new headquarters of Catholic Charities, a social service ministry of the Catholic Diocese of Evansville, will occupy the property’s west side.
As of November 1, 2020, the foundations and footers for the first homes have been completed. On December 9, 2020, the first front door was hung! During January and February of 2021, Habitat’s Core Crew and an AmeriCorps volunteer team continued to build homes at St. Theresa Place.
For more information about St. Theresa Place, a Habitat for Humanity Subdivision, contact Sr. Jane Michele McClure, 812-423-5623 ext. 226 or jmcclure@evansvillehabitat.org.
St. Theresa Advisory Council
The St. Theresa Place Advisory Council consists of over 30 former St. Theresa parishioners and graduates, community leaders and neighborhood champions who seek to preserve the legacy of St. Theresa Parish by celebrating, not so much the buildings that were once there, but the special individuals and families who shared life together in beautiful, creative ways. Most of all, the Council seeks to invite the entire community to get involved with building St. Theresa Place and to experience the timeless truth that what seems like death always brings forth new life!
Greenspace Project
The Council will also work with Catholic Charities and the Catholic Diocese to create an appropriate greenspace between Catholic Charities and St. Theresa Place, a place of quiet and natural beauty which will always serve as a reminder of a sacred heritage and holy ground.
Friends of St. Theresa Place
The St. Theresa Place Advisory Council has identified chairpersons and “natural constituencies” for seven of the fourteen homes in St. Theresa Place. Each group will have a goal of raising $80,000 to be a Full Build Sponsor of a home in the new subdivision.
The entire community is invited to be a Friend of St. Theresa by joining in these efforts.
14 Homes, 14 Families
The 14 families who will live in St. Theresa Place have been approved for homeownership on the basis of need, ability to pay an affordable mortgage, and willingness to partner (300 hours of sweat equity and successful completion of Habitat’s Money Management Seminar and other required homeownership preparation classes). Future homeowners will work to build their own home and the homes of others in St. Theresa Place.
Homeowners pay a 30-year, no-interest mortgage back to Habitat which, in turn, funds all Habitat operations. Every dollar given to Habitat for Humanity goes directly to building homes and helping families grow wealth and become self-sufficient through homeownership.
“St. Theresa Place, a 14-home, single-family subdivision, will not only provide the opportunity for 14 families to build wealth through homeownership but will also keep alive the family spirit of St. Theresa Parish, which for over 70 years was a vibrant center of faithful worship and quality education in the Diamond-Stringtown Neighborhood.”
“I was a pastor of St. Theresa Parish for 14 years, and I’ve accepted the responsibility of asking friends to help keep the spirit of St. Theresa alive by making a gift to Habitat for Humanity of Evansville. It takes $80,000 to sponsor each one of these houses … so that’s 14 houses times $80,000 which equals $1,120,000. Our goal is to raise that by the end of 2023.”
“This is such good news for our city. Because even though times change, one thing doesn’t … and that’s that people are still the most important thing. People make neighborhoods great. It just makes me smile to think of the children who are going to grow up in St. Theresa Place, who will be going to the Stringtown Library, walking to an Otter’s game, having a cookout in Garvin Park and swimming at the Deaconess Aquatic Center.”
“Over 1,200 additional units of affordable housing are needed in our community. And that is a conservative estimate. St. Theresa Place will help us meet that need, and the project fits well with Habitat’s strategic plan to build 100 homes in the next 5 years and focus on the high impact which results from concentrated building.”
Friends of St. Theresa
Details on current Friends of St. Theresa Place coming soon!