Bruce fans help build E Street home

Group gathers to aid

JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Aisha Battle (l) of Howell works with a group of volunteers to build her new home off Institute Street, Freehold Borough. The volunteers — who are all fans of rocker Bruce Springsteen — came to town to help build the Habitat for Humanity homes on E Street.

Habitat project; gets

lunch visit from Boss

BY CLARE MARIE CELANO

Staff Writer

Fans of Freehold-raised rocker Bruce Springsteen gathered on Institute Street in Freehold Borough on a recent Saturday morning to give something back to a community that gave them their musical hero.

The group of 14 fans took up their shovels on July 31 to help build one of six homes that are being constructed as part of a project organized by the Western Monmouth County Habitat for Humanity.

Springsteen is a former resident of Institute Street and the new thoroughfare into the Habitat site has been named E Street, after Springsteen’s E Street Band.

Habitat for Humanity builds homes for people who might not otherwise be able to afford to buy a home. Six homes will be built on the 1.6-acre parcel on E Street.

The volunteers came to help the Habitat project for a lot of reasons, one of them being that they wanted to help build a house in the community that Springsteen sang about in his song "My Hometown."

According to Dale Duffy Goldfarb of Little Egg Harbor Township, "We’re building houses with Habitat for Humanity because we’ve been inspired by Bruce Spring-steen to respond to the needs of our fellow human beings."

Springsteen inspires his fans to be better people, said Goldfarb who, along with Barbara Wells, of Monroe, N.Y., coordinated the Habitat fan volunteer project.

The fans have been communicating after meeting in an online discussion board called BTX-Loose Ends on the Internet Web site www.Backstreets.com.

"Bruce Springsteen has a passionate connection with his audience and his fans love him, not only for his terrific music and rousing live performances, but also for his humanity and generosity," Goldfarb said.

Wells came up with the idea of volunteering to help build the Habitat house when she came across the Habitat project online.

"I saw it and I knew it had our name (BTX-Loose Ends) written all over it," she said.

She placed the idea on the discussion board and did not have much trouble finding others who agreed with her.

Fans who had never met before came to Freehold from as far away as Maryland and upstate New York on July 31 to help others in need, which is a trait they admire in Springsteen. They came to Freehold to contribute some of their own "sweat equity," which is one of the requirements to purchase a Habitat home.

With shovels in hand, the group of 14 fans moved a large mound of dirt sitting on top of the foundation at No. 6 E Street, which will become home to Aisha Battle and her son, Tyree, 4.

Battle put in some of her own "sweat equity" as the group listened to Spring-steen tunes on a boombox. She said she knew about Springsteen’s music, but she was not familiar with the connection between the artist and the name of her new street. She was given a crash course in Springsteen history by fan Jayne Doniger of Manhattan.

The fans worked for five hours in the humid heat of the summer day and said they thought it was well worth the effort. The foundation now has level dirt and the concrete has been waterproofed with black tar.

Bill Seifert, the executive director of the Western Monmouth County Habitat for Humanity, said the Springsteen fans did a fantastic job. He said everyone had a good time as they worked.

Seifert said he hopes the housing project will be completed by Oct. 31.

The director said obtaining a Habitat home requires strict adherence to the following criteria — a person must be living in substandard housing and must have the ability to pay a no-interest, nonprofit mortgage. Seifert said Habitat holds a 25-year mortgage with no interest as long as the home buyer is willing to partner with Habitat in the creation and construction of the home.

Battle, who lives with her parents in Howell, is looking forward to owning her own home. Her son is looking forward to taking his toys out of storage and sleeping in his own room.

"I take him here to see the homes being built," she said. "Although he doesn’t really understand yet, I keep telling him that his home will be built here."

The young mom praised the volunteers and called them amazing.

"Here it is a warm, sunny day in the middle of summer. They could be anywhere, yet they are here, helping to build someone else’s house," she said.

Battle said she is very grateful to be a part of the Habitat for Humanity program and happy that her home will be built on E Street.

"You get to know your neighbors here," she said. "Most people don’t have that opportunity. We’re all helping to build our homes, and we’re already like one big family. To see a house go up from scratch and to actually help to build it yourself — that’s a wonderful thing."

The group eventually took a well-earned break and had lunch at Federici’s on West Main Street. During lunch the fans were thrilled to see "The Boss" himself walk into the restaurant. He stopped by to say hello and thank the volunteers for their efforts.

Goldfarb said Springsteen un­derstood that the fans had worked on the Habitat project in his name and was glad to see that his mes­sage was getting through to people.

She said all of the Springsteen fans had a great day in Freehold and believe their efforts were very productive.

After working with Battle and several other new homeowners on E Street, Goldfarb said the fan group now has a connection to the people and the project. She said the volunteers are hoping to con­tinue their volunteer efforts on the E Street Habitat project on a more or less regular basis.

"Given the street name and the fact that Bruce once lived on this street, we feel that we will always be connected to this project," she said. "The Bruce fan community is a kind and compassionate group — we take our lead from him.