Boca Raton-based Home Sponsor Sklar Furnishings Presents Keys to New Homeowners of Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County’s 50th Home in Delray Beach
From Left: Randy Nobles, Michael Campbell, Pat and Rick Howard, The Montes Family (new homeowners), Jeff Costello.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (June 14, 2016) — Like most fathers, Bony Montes always dreamed of owning a home with his wife in a nice, safe neighborhood where their children could grow up and make forever-family memories. Yet no matter how hard he and his wife pursued his dream, it seemed infinitely beyond reach…until last weekend.
Surrounded on Sunday by Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County (HFHSPBC) leadership, CRA of Delray Beach Executive Director Jeff Costello, community and business leaders, family and friends during a special dedication ceremony, Home Sponsor Sklar Furnishings presented Bony and Rilene Montes and their children Laurie (age 11) and Nadine (age 3) with the keys to the 50th home HFHSPC’s has built in Delray Beach. It is the nonprofit’s 124th home in South Palm Beach County delivered through the nonprofit’s 25 years of service and the second home dedicated by sponsor Sklar Furnishings that has committed to build a third. Demonstrating its ongoing dedication to revitalize its community and make an impact in the southwest section of the City, the CRA of Delray Beach provided the property to HFHSPBC in 2013 along with five others. This is the fourth home completed with that donation.
“Each Habitat home dedication is truly an exciting, heartwarming experience for so many, not just the appreciative new homeowners,” shared HFHSPBC President/CEO Michael Campbell. “So many have been involved in making The Montes homeownership dream possible, from our board members and staff, home sponsor, city and CRA officials and the more than 769 community and corporate partner volunteers who helped build the home. It is this generosity of the community, spirited support and volunteerism that helps Habitat continue to be successful in its mission of building homes, communities and hope.”
Bony officially started his partnership with HFHSPC (www.habitatsouthpalmbeach.org) as a prospective homeowner in 2013. Since then, he worked on 15 of the 21 homes in the Habitat Ocean Breeze West development in Boynton Beach, two homes completed in Delray Beach and a home in the Water Chase Community of Boynton Beach. Bony and Rilene also worked with Habitat for Humanity’s Neighborhood Revitalization program and its ReStore and contributed 50 hours of community service. They completed 75 hours of classroom workshops that included eight financial education workshops and eight classes on food and nutrition, in addition to an eight-hour homebuyer education course from a HUD approved housing counseling agency.
“We are feeling so blessed as we look forward to celebrating Father’s Day with our family and friends in our brand new home in our new Delray Beach neighborhood,” noted Bony Montes who works as a cashier at a local supermarket. “Rilene [who works as dishwasher in a local restaurant] and I have so worked hard for several years so that we could own a home and could never have been able to do so without the help of Habitat for Humanity and its caring community of supporters. We thank everyone from the Delray Beach CRA and Sklar Furnishings to the volunteers who actually came out – with drills, hammers, nails, paint brushes and more in hand – to literally build our ‘dream home’.”
From Left: Rick Howard, Pat Howard, Scott Schubert, Kaye Smith, Linnea Powers
Habitat for Humanity of South Palm Beach County is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization that works to provide affordable homeownership opportunities for hardworking and deserving families in the cities of Boynton Beach, Delray Beach and Boca Raton, Florida. Habitat for Humanity seeks to “put God’s love into action by bringing people together to build homes, communities, and hope”. The nonprofit builds and repairs homes in partnership with families who demonstrate a need for housing and a willingness to work with HFHSPBC to purchase or repair their homes. Since its establishment in 1991, HFHSPBC has empowered many families in the South Palm Beach community to achieve their dream, of living in a safe, decent, and affordable home.
Since opening its doors in Boca Raton in November 2002, modern contemporary furniture leader Sklar Furnishings has devoted itself to making a positive difference in the communities in which its employees and customers live, work and play. As such, Sklar Furnishings found a natural partner in the Habitat for Humanity. After Sklar owner/president Rick Howard joined the HFHSPBC Board of Directors in 2009, the company’s support of Habitat’s mission expanded by donations of custom furniture worth thousands of dollars to be sold at the HFHSPBC ReStores, commitment to building three homes and encouragement of other companies and organizations to do so as well.
“As Pat and I have always believed, a ‘home is a very special place for everyone, especially for those who have been denied a home,” said Rick Howard, President of Sklar Furnishings and current chair of HFHSPBC. “That is why we and our company have continued our efforts to support this dedicated nonprofit that has time and time again delivered the dream of home ownership.”
Complete with a full team of credentialed home and office designers and space planners, Sklar Furnishings www.sklarfurnishings.com — the only independent modern contemporary furniture showroom and design center of its kind in the region –provides high levels of design and service with customization at the foundation of its philosophy. As an industry leader committed to “Your Space, Your Lifestyle, Your Choice,” Sklar works with selected high-end furniture, accessory and lighting suppliers from North America, Italy and Scandinavia to offer customers maximum freedom in expressing their personal style by specifying the exact color, fabric, wood finish, shape and size of their furnishings. Sklar Furnishings was named 2014 Small Business of the Year by the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce and represented the Office Depot Leadership in Greener Purchasing Award as the only small business recognized in the state of Florida. Rick is a past president of the North American Home Furnishings Association that champions the independent home furnishings retailer — the nation’s largest organization devoted specifically to the needs and interests of home furnishings retailers, with more than 1,800 members representing more than 7,000 storefronts across all 50 states and several foreign countries.
For more information on HFHSPBC, sponsoring a home or corporate/organization or volunteering for a community build,www.habitatsouthpalmbeach.org or call 561-819-6070.
