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Seminole County, Habitat and donors celebrate start of Legacy Square, a 19-home affordable housing project
Summary
Seminole County leaders, Habitat Seminole Apopka and private donors marked the wall-raising for Legacy Square, a $7.2 million, 19-home development funded with county ARPA dollars, a $1 million corporate gift and other private support; a new homeowner shared how the program provided stable housing after eviction notices.
Seminole County Vice Chair Amy Lockhart and community partners on Saturday celebrated the wall-raising at Legacy Square, a 19-home affordable-housing development that officials said is intended to expand pathways to homeownership for local families.
"Well, today is about a lot more than raising walls. It's about raising opportunities and creating stability for families," Vice Chair Amy Lockhart said as she opened the ceremony, naming elected leaders and community donors in attendance. She said Seminole County invested "more than 1.4 million dollars" from American Rescue Plan Act funds to support infrastructure and construction for the project.
The event brought together public officials, Habitat for Humanity leaders and private donors. Tim Smith of Wharton Smith told the crowd the company and employees were proud to contribute. "We were able to give a million dollars to this project," he said, describing the gift as part of the company's long-standing culture of giving.
A Habitat representative introduced the project as "Legacy Square, a 19-home, 7.2 million-dollar development designed to help close the affordable gap right here in Central Florida," and credited a longtime Habitat track record in Seminole County: "For 35 years, Habitat Seminole Apopka has built more than homes. We've built futures," the speaker said, noting the organization has completed "more than 260 homes" and seen "67 paid off mortgages." The Habitat representative also listed local donors including Publix, the Big Nova Foundation, The Galloway Foundation, Ginard Company and GC Incorporated.
At the ceremony a new Habitat homeowner, Betsaida Lasu, spoke about her path to homeownership and the stability it provided her family. "My name is Betsaida Lasu. I am a new Habitat homeowner," she said. Lasu described being approved for the program after receiving eviction notices, attending Habitat workshops and working multiple jobs while improving credit and budgeting. "I am not ashamed to be a domestic violence survivor because I broke that cycle," she said, adding that she now has a safe home and credited Habitat, donors and volunteers.
Organizers highlighted community contributions to the project, noting Seminole High School students decorated several site fire hydrants and that the Sanford Rotary plans to donate American flags for each house. Lockhart said the county's initial ARPA investment was intended as a revolving fund that could be reinvested in future affordable-housing opportunities and said Legacy Square has "officially entered phase two of development" following completion of groundwork and infrastructure.
The ceremony concluded with a call for wall-raising supporters and a series of photo opportunities involving county leaders, Habitat representatives and donor organizations. Organizers encouraged attendees to celebrate the milestone while remaining mindful of the active construction site.
The wall-raising marks the visible start of building toward 19 new homes at Legacy Square; organizers said the project is the result of a public–nonprofit–private partnership and will move forward as phase two continues.
