One of the most fun charities I’ve ever worked with is Habitat for Humanity. Spring is here and that means new housing projects are probably in the works. For those that don’t know, Habitat for Humanity is an organization that builds homes with the help of volunteers for deserving families. Habitat for Humanity was created in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller. To date they have built over 350,000 homes all over the world providing shelter for some 1.75 million people. Many people may not know that the homes aren’t just simply given away. Homeowners make down payments, pay monthly payments, and invest hundreds of hours into the building of their home and other Habitat projects. There are Habitat affiliates in all 50 states and in several countries meaning just about everyone has the opportunity to get involved. You will likely do things you have no experience with, like putting up siding or helping with wall framing, but that is the fun part. It is a great chance to meet new people and pick up a few new skills along the way. The homeowner is generally on site so you get the chance to really see who the home will be for and hear their story. There doesn’t have to be a long term commitment either although it was apparent at the house we worked on that most of the volunteers made helping a part of their weekend routine.
I contacted the Verde Valley Chapter and the Flagstaff Chapter recently in search of new projects and they both had nothing pending as of yet. However, they both said they can always use help in their Re-Stores. If you’ve never been to a Re-Store, it’s a great place to find things for your own housing projects. All items are donated and then sold to help fund more projects. They have tile, furniture, ceiling fans, etc. Through our own renovation projects, we have donated several items to the Re-Store in our area.
The last picture was my favorite part of the day. My friend Lisa wasn’t paying attention and walked right into the wet cement! The people laying it were very nice about it and we all got a good laugh! It’s part of the risk of using volunteers on a housing project. Unfortunately she wasn’t the only one to step in wet cement that day.
