FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Two Habitat Families are celebrating the success of their children on National Signing day!!
Date: Wednesday, February 04, 2009

 Sadath Jean-Pierre, son of Immokalee Habitat homeowner Moranie Jean-Pierre, signed today to play football and attend college at The Citadel, in Charleston, South Carolina.  Jean-Pierre is the recipient of a full scholarship valued at $130,000. He is expected to arrive on campus June 10^th when he will begin summer courses and workouts for his position as cornerback.  A senior at Immokalee High School, he will graduate with a 4.1 G.P.A. and plans to study Civil Engineering at The Citadel. The Jean-Pierre’s moved into their Habitat home in the neighborhood of Independence in 2007.

 Patrick Bastien, son of Immokalee Habitat homeowners Celigny and Francoise Bastien, and Sadath’s best friend,  signed today to play football and attend college at University of Alabama Birmingham.  Bastien will be joining the Blazers as a defensive end in the fall.  The Bastien’s have lived in their Habitat home on Hope Circle in Immokalee since April of 1994.

 Both of these gifted boys follow in the footsteps of Edgerrin James, star running back of the Arizona Cardinals, whose family has owned a Habitat home in Immokalee since 1993.

 In the last 31 years, Habitat for Humanity of Collier County has helped more than 1,150 families by providing the most basic of human needs - shelter.  Still, there is a desperate need for homes for low-wage earning families.  Qualifying applicants are legal residents of the United States, living and working in Collier County for more than a year and have demonstrated a need for safe, affordable shelter, an ability to repay the interest-free mortgage and a willingness to partner with Habitat through the contribution of 500 hours of sweat equity.  The impact of homeownership on the lives of children cannot be underestimated.  Partnership with Habitat for Humanity allows families to break the cycle of poverty, benefiting everyone in the community.

 Habitat for Humanity of Collier County is one of the oldest and largest producing Habitat affiliates in the nation. The local organization has built more than 125 homes a year for the past seven years, making it Collier County’s leading provider of affordable, owner-occupied homes. Habitat for Humanity of Collier County is located at 11145 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL 34113. www.HabitatCollier.org