NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING DEDICATES 13TH HABITAT FOR HUMANITY HOUSE

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE:HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division joined elected officials and community leaders Wednesday to dedicate the 13th house shipyard volunteers have constructed in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg.

Wednesday’s dedication ceremony welcomed LaShand Coleman and her children, Dhestini and Dwayne “D.J.,” to their new home. In attendance were Newport News Mayor McKinley Price; Ché Henderson, president, Habitat for Humanity board of directors; Newport News City Councilwoman Dr. Patricia Woodbury; Karen R. Wilds, executive director, Newport News Redevelopment and Housing Authority; and Karen Joyner, CEO of the Virginia Peninsula Food Bank.

Ray Bagley, Newport News Shipbuilding’s vice president of trades operations, spoke on behalf of the shipyard and presented the house keys and a plaque to the Coleman family.

“This is a wonderful partnership we have with Habitat for Humanity,” Bagley said. “For 130 years, our shipbuilders have built the finest ships in the world. But also our shipbuilders know what goes into building a home for LaShand and her family. We are happy to be a part of this new chapter.”

Ray Bagley, Newport News Shipbuilding’s vice president of trades operations, presents the house keys to LaShand Coleman and her family during Wednesday’s Habitat for Humanity dedication ceremony. The Coleman house is the 13th Habitat for Humanity house built by shipyard volunteers. Photo by Ricky Thompson/HII

LaShand said she is proud to call the house her own. “As a single mother of two, my heart’s desire has always been to own my home and have a nice place for my children to live,” she said.

2016 marks the first year that shipyard volunteers will complete two houses for Habitat for Humanity. Newport News’ 14th house will be complete this summer.

Tina Howell, a learning and organizational development representative at Newport News Shipbuilding, volunteered with Habitat for Humanity for the first time when she helped build the Colemans’ house. “The entire experience was very rewarding,” she said. “Not only was I able to give back to the community, I learned a skill that one day may come in handy.”