Jammel Cutler reports for Columbia-Greene Media that Habitat for Humanity started building two new homes on Eagle Street in Philmont on May 19. Currently, state and local officials have said their is an affordable housing crisis in New York and the Hudson Valley. These will be the 26th and 27th homes that Columbia County Habitat for Humanity has built over three decades. The group keeps the price of the homes no more than 30 percent of gross family income, and limit construction costs to $300,000 each. Al Bellenchia, executive director and CEO of Habitat for Humanity, said, “The family pays what they can afford, so we can fill that gap in what the family can’t afford to pay.... That gap is where the community comes in. The community has always helped raise the money to fill that gap. That is why we’re a nonprofit organization, because we’re able to do that through fundraising, grants and donations.” These are the first homes they group has worked on since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.