Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity President Ed Lopez. Photo by Marie Lopez.

Nashua – Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity has announced newly elected officers on its Board of Directors.  Ed Lopez, of Nashua, who has been serving as the organization’s Public Relations Chairman, has been elected President of the Board of Directors.  Marie Lopez, also of Nashua, has been re-elected Secretary of the Board while Chris Houpis, of Amherst, has been elected Assistant Secretary of the Board.  Vice President Peter Dobratz, of Derry, and Treasurer Karen Files, of Milford, are each in the middle of their first two-year term as officers on said Board. 

Each brings a different set of experiences to the Board’s officer team. 

Chris Houpis, a software executive at Kronos, which is based in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, has served in the Public Relations Committee at Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity.  He has also served in a number of non-profit organizations over the last few years, including service as a past president of the Manchester Queen City Rotary, service as chairman of the Board of Trustees at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, and membership in the Software Association of New Hampshire.  

Marie Lopez is the owner of Marie Lopez Photography and was, until recently, working for Lowell City Hall, in Lowell, Massachusetts.  She served as part of the city’s Management Information Systems Department.  She is currently completing Political Science and Photography studies at the University of New Hampshire and the New Hampshire Institute of Art.  Currently, she manages the organization’s main office at 63 Temple Street, in Nashua, with Jennifer Breen.  She has also served in the Public Relations Committee. 

Ed Lopez has worked for US Senators Hank Brown and the late John H. Chafee.  In 1998 he was a candidate for Rhode Island Secretary of State and until recently served in the Military Intelligence Branch of the United States Army Reserve’s Individual Mobilization Augmentation Program, at the Joint Analysis Center in Molesworth, England.  He is currently completing a doctorate in Intelligence Studies at Durham University, in England. 

“We are each excited to continue working with Habitat for Humanity in these new capacities – but in our organization we rely on a working Board of Directors – which means that no matter what title we carry, for whatever period of time, we are all equally immersed in a tremendous amount of work.  We face a daunting challenge to raise funds in our current economy – which we need to do in order to help create affordable housing for qualified families, and this is a challenge all members of this Board are wholeheartedly and equally committed to,” said Ed Lopez. 

Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity is preparing to begin a construction project in the spring of 2010.  “At the moment we are preparing to build homes for two families in Milford and we want to urge members of the Greater Nashua community to help us raise the necessary funds, volunteer help, and materials necessary to make this project a great success.  We have at least two more homes to build right after that.  Those families and their friends are contributing as many hours of labor as our other volunteers.  We offer a ‘hand-up, not a hand-out’ so our pursuit for support helps sustain a mission that nurtures the values of hard-work and a team effort within the community,” said Board Secretary Marie Lopez. 

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.  Chris Houpis is a member of Saint Philip Greek Orthodox Church, in Nashua.  Marie and Ed Lopez are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also in Nashua.  Habitat invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. 

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If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call Jennifer Breen at 603-883-0295. For further publicity information email the Public Relations Committee at pr@nashuahabitat.org.

TEL. 603-883-0295                                                                             
EMAIL: jerry.harrow@nashabitat.org

 GREATER NASHUA HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PRESIDENT TO STEP DOWN AT THE END OF OCTOBER
Jerry Harrow First Volunteered in 1997 

Nashua – Greater Nashua Habitat for Humanity has announced that current President Jerry Harrow will step down after serving as president of the organization for six years.  No successor has been named. 

Harrow began volunteering for the organization in 1997.  He became a member of the Board of Directors in 1999 and has served as President since 2003.  Under Harrow’s leadership the organization has seen substantial growth in the amount of small projects tackled, the organization’s land acquisition, and fundraising capabilities.  Under his direction, the Nashua affiliate for Habitat for Humanity International participated in Operation Home Delivery.  The three-day framing event was held at the Nashua Community Technical College on Amherst Street (now Nashua Community College) in the summer of 2007. 150 volunteers constructed a Home-In-A-Box for the Mobile Alabama Habitat for Humanity affiliate to aid in recovery from Hurricane Katrina.  

Harrow will be stepping down as president but will remain active in the organization: as he leaves his position the organization begins a new phase, busier than it has ever been before with three properties awaiting construction.  He will continue working for Hewlett-Packard, where he has held his private sector job since 1985. 

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry that seeks to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action.  Habitat for Humanity invites people of all backgrounds, races and religions to build houses together in partnership with families in need. 

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If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Jerry Harrow, please call Ed Lopez at 603-883-0295 or 603-438-6961; you can also email Ed at ed.lopez@nashabitat.org for the most immediate response.