I am extraordinarily honored to support the Habitat for Heroes program that is helping to build 87 homes for wounded warriors and their families, right here in Santa Clarita.

It is my pleasure to invite you to a special groundbreaking event for this new community on Saturday, Nov. 9, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Habitat for Humanity’s Centre Point construction site, located at 21545 Centre Pointe Parkway, Santa Clarita, CA 91350. Tickets are $20 each and benefit this very worthy cause.

The event is being held on Veterans Day weekend as a way to unify efforts to support active duty troops, veterans and their families. We will break ground on the new community and our guests will enjoy kids carnival games, a chili cook-off, a USO-style show, and of course a delicious BBQ.

Here is the link to purchase your tickets: http://hfhsfscvbbq.eventbrite.com.

Click to enlarge

Allow me to tell you a little bit about Habitat for Heroes and the Habitat for Humanity program. It is all geared toward assisting local veterans, their families, and families of the fallen, with housing services in North Los Angeles County including the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys. Services include A Brush with Kindness (a nonprofit that provides housing improvement projects to veterans) and home ownership opportunities in partnership with the California Department of Veteran Affairs.

Their promise to the Santa Clarita community is to build 87 veteran homes in a Habitat-enriched neighborhood to address its veteran housing crisis.

By working with other nonprofits, government agencies, faith organizations, local businesses and community groups, as well as individual donors and volunteers, they are able to keep costs low. Our Habitat affiliate takes it a step further by providing interest-free loans, enabling our families to buy a home for less than what they would pay in rent.

This is a dream most of these families would never be able to realize without the help of Habitat for Humanity. I am deeply impressed by the participation of many local businesses and nonprofits in our community that have stepped up to help make this happen.

Along with building homes, they also provide a mentoring program that stays in the communities for two years. It teaches important life skills, such as money management, educational training, as well as urban community gardening, while providing health services referrals. This model empowers homeowners and their children to transform their lives and their entire community. In return, they ask our families to contribute 500 hours of sweat equity.

If you would like more information, please visit their website at http://www.habitatscv.org/ Thank you in advance for any support you can provide. I look forward to seeing you at the Veterans weekend BBQ.

Bob Kellar is mayor of the city of Santa Clarita.