On February 16 Richard Baker, a CTK Habitat volunteer. and Brad Gallion, Houston Habitat Development Officer and liaison to the area's faith community, will address the Adult Forum contemporary issues class. You are invited to learn more about this ministry and to consider participating in future projects, including the 2003 Jimmy Carter Work Project.
Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit Christian housing ministry which seeks to eliminate poverty housing, has built more than 100,000 houses in the United States and countries throughout the world since it was founded in 1976 by Millard and Linda Fuller.
Habitat for Humanity is not a charity or a give-away program. Volunteer labor is used to help build houses to keep building costs low. Partner families pay a down payment and monthly mortgage payments for their homes, as well as investing hundreds of hours of their own labor-sweat equity into building their own houses and those of others. The mortgage money goes into a revolving fund that helps build houses with other families. In addition, 10% of all unrestricted cash donations helps build houses overseas.
Experts agree that the blight of poverty housing reaches beyond rotting roofs and insufficient sanitation systems. It casts low-income families into an unforgiving cycle of physical and emotional duress, compromising their health, academic achievement, and sense of security. While adequate shelter is not the cure for every poverty ill, it does offer a haven for emotional and physical rest, and the stability found therein empowers families in their pursuit of a better quality of life. The importance of a decent place to live cannot be overstated, for with it come stability and promise, family unity, hope and a foundation from which individuals reach their full potential. Habitat's goal is to create an environment of hope and dignity for all people.
Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, longtime Habitat supporters and volunteers, have helped to focus national and international attention on the organization's work. For nearly 20 years they have personally led the annual Jimmy Carter Work Project, raising not only houses, but also a general awareness of the need for affordable housing.
The 2003 Jimmy Carter Work Project will be June 8-13 in the towns of Valdosta and LaGrange, Georgia, and in Anniston, Alabama, hometown of Habitat founder Fuller. This year is Habitat's 25th anniversary year, and these towns were chosen because they were among the first U.S. cities to commit formally to ridding their neighborhoods of substandard housing. The plan is to build 70 houses on these sites as a challenge to other U.S. cities to eliminate poverty housing. You can learn more about the projects at www.habitat.org.
Houston's Habitat affiliiate incorporated in 1987, and the first Habitat home was built in Houston in 1988. Since then the Houston affiliate has built more than 300 homes throughout Houston and over 170 houses overseas. These are impressive figures, but the unfortuate fact is that Houston Habita receives an average of 500 applications per year from potential homeowners, many more applications than can be accepted and acted upon. Still, Houston Habitat for Humanity continually seeks to give witness to the Christian gospel by working in partnership with God's people in need to create a decent habitat in which to live and work.
CTK participated in the Jimmy Carter Work Project when it was in Houston in 1998. Volunteers from our congregation also participated in spring and fall workdays in 2001. In spring 2002 volunteers worked on 15 homes in the Glen Wood subdivision with/for people who lost their homes due to Tropical Storm Allison. There was no fall 2002 work day because there were no funds. Therefore, Houston Habitat for Humanity has asked all churches in the Houston area to put a Habitat Charitable Donation into its budget as a line item. Our proposed 2003 budget reflects a response to that request.
For more information about Habitat for Humanity go to www.houstonhabitat.org . For more information about how you can be a CTK partner/volunteer for Houston projects or for the Jimmy Carter Work Project, contact Don and Velma Rice or Justine Nelson.